Blue and Yellow Club funds GPS tracking devices
A generous contribution from a group of Wimbledon supporters will provide an extra fitness edge to the first-team squad during the run-in.
Members of the Blue and Yellow Club, which was formed three years ago, have combined to raise £2,000 to cover the cost of 10 new GPS devices.
Club members regularly attend dinners with the first-team coaching staff and at the most recent one Jason Moriarty (AFC Wimbledon Sports Scientist) talked about the value of GPS devices to help monitor the players’ fitness and performances.
As a result, supporters joined forces to raise the funds required to purchase the extra equipment.
Jason Moriarty said: “The GPS devices kindly donated by members of the Blue and Yellow Club will help with quantifying both team and individual training loads. They will measure the external load put on the players by the coaching staff during training sessions, in particular distance covered, sprint distance and high intensity actions.
“It will help us look deeper into the training trends of individual players and improve the quality of feedback given to players and coaching staff. This will ultimately ensure that players are not under or over trained. We will also compare individual drills to games, ensuring that they are position specific as possible. When trialling the equipment we noted a link between the demands of training and games for individuals.”
As well as being of great use to meet training requirements, GPS tracking devices have this season been sanctioned for use during games by the Football League. This is subject to clubs seeking permission from the League before their use.
Blue and Yellow Club co-founder Iain McNay said: “Since the club started over three years ago we have consistently raised decent sums of money, which goes direct to Neal Ardley’s playing budget. We always try to go the extra mile if possible and respond positively when one of Neal’s staff flags up something important that they need.”
New members are always welcome for the Blue and Yellow Club with two types of membership to suit requirements of supporters.
The Blue membership package is for supporters who attend home matches regularly, while the benefits of Yellow membership are tailored for those who cannot attend on a regular basis. Membership (Blue or Yellow) costs £1,000 per year.
iain@cherryred.co.ukIf you would like to join or would like more information on the various benefits available, then please e-mail Iain McNay at .