Since the kick off announcement of Pakistan sending a National Team to the inaugural International Socca Federation World Cup in Lisbon, Pakistani Companies have been doing their bit to support Team Pakistan. And that’s in line with renewed vigor from Naya Pakistan – a stronger sense of Unity flowing between Team mates, supporters, sponsors and the everyday citizen.
Integration Xperts and Leisure Leagues Pakistan took the opportunity to strengthen their alliance around their recent commitment to mobilize Pakistan’s girls, youth and communities through football and health interventions and a joint commitment to develop a stronger platform for collective action in support of the UN’s SDGs to maximize the impact on a variety of life issues faced by a diverse population.
Both companies came together last month in follow up to the support of the World Group and Trunkwala family in setting a new direction for football. With an ambitious plan to develop and nurture talent through its leagues, there’s a desire to provide the youth of Pakistan with the best possible platform of football to change lives and address social inequalities.
Team Pakistan represent that vision, who played in the National Championship to getting an opportunity of a lifetime. The Team make step up to the honour of playing for the Country from 23rd to 29th of September in Lisbon, Portugal Grouped with Spain, Moldova and Russia.
“Innovations are changing our everyday life. New ideas are the driving force of the football industry for improving comfort, safety and performance aspects for the players and referees on the pitch. So, it comes as no surprise that wearable technology has made its way into the sport. This allows for improvement of performance for both individuals and teams by understanding data. Following our alliance last month this Pakistani developed creation of a smart wearable device for Team Pakistan is one part way of our contribution in supporting a vision we also believe in” said Mr. Umair Azam, Founder & Managing Partner of Integration Xperts
The FitR is a live performance-tracking device Team Pakistan players will wear during their matches. This is already done in other sports, including rugby (both league and union) and Australian rules football.
The real-time data will help coaches analyze important body metrics whilst the players are on the field. The band will collect the players distance travelled, calories burnt, blood pressure and blood oxygen level and sync all this with their smart phones once the game is over and help in managing player fatigue and hydration levels.
“Leisure Leagues is proud of this partnership, it represents Pakistan football’s embrace of technology in the Sports 4 Development agenda and an illustration that traditional sports can sync with new tomorrow’s technological advancement” stated Mr. Ishaq Shah, Chief Operating Officer of Leisure Leagues.
The ceremony took place at Integration Xperts Head Office, where Mr. Umair Azam, presented the FitR to each member of the Pakistan team along with their coach.
“We’re simply responding to the changing landscape both in football and for children and adolescents in Pakistan. Aligning ourselves with the right kind of partners, whether that be to build on our commitment to the UN’s SDGs or to building platforms for our youth also paves the way forward for collaborative efforts, to engage with a broad range of stakeholders, including governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, international organizations, and individuals and in this regard. Sports, brings people together, and building in technology to that broaden the appeal, so working at multiple levels just makes sense. We are confident that this is only the first of a series of innovative outreach initiatives with Umair and his team at Integration Experts” commented Mr. Issac Shah, COO.
