Kris De Coorde, Policy and Innovation Project Leader at Sport Vlaanderen: “Social media is a vital part of the modern sports experience”

Here’s a terrifying statistic. Since 1990, worldwide adult obesity has more than doubled – and adolescent obesity has quadrupled. Governments are slowly taking action, and we think they could do far worse than listen to Kris De Coorde, Policy and Innovation Project Leader at Sport Vlaanderen. That’s Sports Flanders for non-Flemish speakers.

Crucially, Sport Flanders is the Flemish sports administration, and thanks to Kris and his team the people of Flanders have a chance to fight all the other external factors that are making children and adults fatter. That means increasing their options for playing sport and doing exercise, and new technology plays a key part in its strategy.

“We want to be a radar and an accelerator for innovation in sport tech,” Kris told us. “So, we are building an innovative community in which ideas, insights and results of experiments can be shared and where we can create synergies between organisations with the same needs.”

For example, Sports Flanders have been looking at ways to use virtual and augmented reality to enhance people’s experiences. Including the concept of exergames: “[It] is a contraction of ‘exercise’ and ‘games’ and combines the entertainment of popular video games with physical activity,” Kris explained.

And it’s a way of making people who might baulk at regular exercise get moving in the real world rather than sit in front of a screen.

Exergames are just one of the ideas that Kris and the Sports Flanders are experimenting with. Read on to discover more. And after reading, maybe go for a short run. It’s nice out there.

Related reading: Sofus Rasmussen, acting Secretary General at the Norwegian Association of University Sports: “You must morally justify flying in athletes, officials and spectators from all over the world, just for a few days of competition”

Tell us your elevator pitch

With our Sports Innovation Lab, our Sports Innovation Congress and our work in five innovation clusters (Sports Tech, Sports Smart, Sports DNA, Sports Space and Sports Social), we believe that as a sports agency, we can play a pioneering role for innovation in sport, and together with the sector continue to provide answers to the needs of tomorrow. However, innovation is not an end, but an important means to achieve our mission: to provide everyone in Flanders with as many opportunities to play sport and exercise as possible, now and in the future. 

What is it about sports tech that excites you? What made you get into this sector?

At Sport Flanders, we are convinced that – to get people into sports and exercising sustainably now and in the future – we need to be permanently committed to the innovation of sports and exercise. This is only possible if we, as a sports agency, are prepared for the future, for the future of sport and its place in society.

Those who think of innovation often think of technology. This is no different in the sports sector. We want to be a radar and an accelerator for innovation in sport tech. So, we are building an innovative community in which ideas, insights and results of experiments can be shared and where we can create synergies between organisations with the same needs.

Moreover, through experiments, we wish to learn, create new insights, develop new products, improve our service, and inspire the sports policy.

What sports does your tech apply to? And have you been surprised by its use?

As a governmental sport administration, we do not develop new technologies in sports ourselves, but we do support their development through grants. As mentioned, our efforts are focused on experimenting with new technologies in sport and exercise.

We are pleasantly surprised by the extra experience that, for example, virtual and augmented reality provides in exergames. ‘Exergames’ is a contraction of ‘exercise’ and ‘games’ and combines the entertainment of popular video games with physical activity.

The newest generations of exergames can appeal to certain sedentary target groups and thereby unconsciously encourage them to be more physically active.   

Related: How cloud computing transformed football – even at park level

Can you give an example of a complex problem in sports that you – or your company – have been involved in tackling with technology?

We observe that the youngest generation of children is moving less and less. We investigate which innovative tech sports offer succeed in getting youngsters moving. 

Nowhere is technological innovation in the sports sector as tangible as in the Sport Innovation Campus in Sport Vlaanderen Brugge. On this campus, a collaboration between Sport Vlaanderen and Howest, we investigate how we can use technology to get more people to play sports and exercise. 

Not coincidentally, the very first Sportscube for Active Gaming also got its place on the Sport Innovation Campus. You can come and discover the latest technological sports trends and forms of movement with your friends, family or colleagues. You will find novelties such as Archery Tag, HADO, Smash volleyball, interactive movement games and urban racket sports, and innovations in the making are constantly being tested.

We also developed the Sports Innovation Trailer. Our Sports Innovation Trailer is a travelling gym equipped with various software and hardware to play exergames. Companies, schools, municipalities, organisations or clubs can rent the Sports Innovation Trailer for an event or expo. Up to 20 athletes per hour can simultaneously discover exergames using innovative technologies for sport and movement while being challenged to move longer and more intensively.

The above-mentioned examples are part of an extensive portfolio of Sport Vlaanderen supported innovative projects who are impactful and inspiring for the sports sector.

What is an example of a club or team improving their performance through technology that you find particularly interesting? And why?

We are fans of the Flemish Sport Tech ‘EXR’ that started as an experimental project with support from Sport Vlaanderen and has now evolved into a high potential startup.

It is a virtual indoor rowing app that aims to enhance the indoor rowing experience. You can train with friends and join the online rowing community. The app allows you to explore famous rowing spots with rowers from all over the world.

It also offers rowing workouts with games, challenges and achievements to boost your motivation. Lastly, EXR provides performance data as it can synchronise with software like Strava, Apple Health and more.

What are some examples of AI being used in sports that stand out to you?

We are not actively involved in the creation of AI tech, but we are very keen to follow the latest advancements and opportunities AI can bring to the sport sector.

For instance, AI is changing how fans engage with live sports. Real-time data analysis allows instant statistics and insights to be shared with fans, enriching the viewing experience.

A great example of this is La Liga’s Beyond Stats platform. This modern technology provides fans with real-time and in-depth analyses of player performance, goal probabilities, personalised content and enhanced live broadcasts with AI-generated graphics.

Advanced video assistant technology tools like Hawk Eye have been used to make sporting events fairer. But recently, AI has upped the ante. For the first time during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022, for example, AI aided referees by tracking player positions via different camera angles and a sensor in the ball.

Related: Tanya Colonna, CEO and Founder of Oro Muscles: “Sports tech isn’t just about innovation; it’s about transforming potential into peak performance”

Do you consider esports as part of your remit? If so, why?

The debate about the position of esports within the sports sector and within sports policy has regularly surfaced in recent years. Questions for recognition from the esports sector are getting louder and louder.

The sports sector is reluctant to recognise esports as a sport based on substantive arguments, but most importantly: the lack of physical activity. After all, the priority objective of sports policy is to form an active population.

The inclusion of the esports sector within sports policy creates a risk for the realisation of the priority objectives of sports policy. After all, esports  – with the exception of disciplines with an exergaming component (very limited share within the gaming population) – consists mainly of sedentary activities, which goes against the priority objective of sports policy.

Thinking of injury prevention and/or recovery, what are some technology and/or science developments you’ve found particularly fascinating?

One of AI’s most significant contributions to sports is its ability to personalise athlete training. AI models can predict the risk of future injuries by analysing data on athletes’ movements, training intensity and past injuries. This is because AI can handle and make sense of a lot of data quickly and in real time.

OnTracx – whose Co-Founder Kristof De Mey TechFinitive has interviewed for this series – is a great startup example here in Flanders. OnTracx uses advanced biomechanical algorithms to quantify the mechanical load on your muscles and bones during running.

Athletes and coaches can use this information to boost performance and understand each athlete’s unique strengths and weaknesses. Based on this data, they can make smarter decisions about training and how to improve.

A good example is Catapult’s Sports. This sports analytics platform uses sensors and cameras to track athletes’ movements during training and games.

How do you stay up to date on the latest technology developments in sports?

For permanent scanning of sports innovations at home and abroad, we work with an EWS-team of about 20 colleagues, to capture, analyse and act on early warning signals. As megatrends – such as big data, open data, technology, gamification, augmented and virtual reality, robotics, AI, (active) design, internet of things, health monitoring and autonomous systems – as well as climate change, social behaviour and new service models can all have an impact on sports in the future, these are all permanently monitored by our EWS-team. Four times a year, strategic discussions are held on those trends and developments to discuss which tech we should effectively invest in right away, or at a later stage, or in which not.

Moreover, anyone with an innovative idea for sport that fits within one of the five clusters can come to us. To enable the harvesting and further development of those ideas, we opened the Sports Innovation Lab (SPIL) at our headquarters in Brussels in 2021.

The SPIL is a multifunctional space, offering both intrapreneurs and external innovators a creative, stimulating environment to get from a good idea to a proof-of-concept. In addition, the SPIL also has a digital component, the online citizen participation platform ‘deeljeidee.sport.vlaanderen’, where people can spontaneously share their creative ideas on the one hand, and where we launch targeted challenges to look for innovative solutions on the other. 

We also organise the Sport Innovation Congress every two years, which always guarantees inspiring keynotes, interesting expert sessions, international master classes, practical workshops and lots of opportunities to experience the sports and exercise technologies of the future for yourself. In preparation for this congress, we oftentimes order an external trend report about a trending topic.

Related: Whit Jackson, Vice President, VP Global M&E at Wasabi Technologies: “AI is having a massive impact on sports that cannot be overlooked”

What do you believe is the biggest opportunity in sports tech right now?

The advancements in AI, AR, VR, MR etc provide opportunities for effectively adding an extra layer of gamification to popular sporting experiences. Social media is a vital part of the modern sports experience, and AI enhances this aspect, too. AI tools help manage and personalise content on social platforms, ensuring that fans receive relevant and engaging posts.

When it comes to technology, what are the most common mistakes you see sports organisations make?

Sports organisations such as sports federations in Flanders may be eligible for additional subsidies for innovation projects, including projects involving new tech. We believe that some sports federations are not yet ready to (be able to) invest more in sport tech innovations.

Unfortunately, the necessary time, space and resources are not always present at sports organisations. They often start from an inaccurate analysis or unfavourable perspective to try to solve an existing problem via technology, but of course, we try to help them at Sport Vlaanderen. That is why we have recently launched a special programme ‘SportUp Coach’, to guide sport federations with their (sportstech) innovation efforts.

What advice do you have for those wanting to start a career in sports tech, or those wanting to launch a startup in the space?

All entrepreneurs who can contribute in one way or another to getting more people involved in sport and exercise, especially focussing on the unaffiliated athlete, are of course encouraged to try it. Where we can help those startups with Sport Flanders with grants, with our networks and so on, we will certainly do so.