| CIO Review names Atavus one of its 20 Most Promising Sports Tech Solution Providers |
Taylor Kempf, Jul. 10th 2019
At the end of the season there’s a champion. But before that comes victories of varying significance. And Atavus just got a big win.In the July issue of CIO Review, Atavus has been chosen as one of the 20 Most Promising Sports Tech Solution Providers. It’s our first major award, and obviously we are honored to be among such a distinguished group. This group is full of some prestigious names in sports tech, businesses that have changed their respective industry.
CIO Review is not only read by a large number of chief information officers (CIOs), but they have a special focus on the sports industry and sports CIOs. Their editorial board’s final list is comprised of those companies exhibiting the ability to deliver technological solutions to industry challenges.
“Atavus, the leading authority on tackle performance, analysis and coaching technique, understands the significance of performance in football and teaches shoulder-led technique that removes the head from the tackle,” writes CIO Review. “The depth and breadth of tackling education alone make Atavus second to none in the marketplace.”
It continues: “Atavus is focused on preventing head injuries via behavior change…(and) the success of Atavus’s clients is helping shift the conversation toward shoulder-led technique.”
At Atavus, we believe that to most effectively educate people on this technique requires a high level of technology. We have reached a crisis within the game of football. At the youth and high school level, it is contracting. We are continually exploring various methods of technology to change behavior, to make the game safer and get more people playing. Atavus has stepped up to address a crisis in football, and CIO Review is among those to take notice.
We believe we can make a significant difference. We know the shoulder-led tackling system we have developed can make the game safer and enable teams to use a more dominant style of tackling.We have our own beliefs, and we work daily with clients and others in football who repeatedly say we’re doing a great job, that we’re making a difference. Yet when someone from outside looking in – CIO Review – states that we are succeeding and doing so in a way that is technologically innovative, we are gratified; we feel further validation of our cause.
In the past year or so, Atavus has focused on product innovation. Our consultants, our coaches, are saying ‘This is the proper way to tackle,’ and using technology we’ve created a way to scale that message to reach more people. We launched the Digital Tackling Academy in July 2018. We certified coaches in teaching this technique, and this past April we launched online certification. We introduced Reports in fall 2018, and we have continued to add enhancements to Tacklytics, our data reporting tool. And just this summer, we rolled out Atavus Edge, an easy-to-buy solution for individual coaches who want to bring shoulder-led technique to their teams. For such a relatively small enterprise, Atavus is initiating a lot of new offerings into the marketplace at a rapid pace.
That’s why All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner works with us. He wants to do his part to make the game safer.
“Atavus is important for the game,” says Wagner, the 2017 NFL leader in solo tackles. “When I hear that young athletes don’t want to play football because of concerns over safety, I know they are missing out on a great chance for fun and personal growth,” adding, “Atavus’ shoulder-led tackling technique, and the way the Atavus Tackling System helps coaches implement the technique, makes sense to me.”The CIO Review award is our first validation point from the broader sports community. What it means to Atavus is less about chest-thumping, it’s indicative that things are really coming together. This is one proof point in our greater belief that we can make a difference. And we’re by no means finished; there’s much more to come.
