Wearable GPS Devices in a British Elite Soccer Academy Setting: A Foucauldian Disciplinary Analysis Of Player Development And Experience

Abstract

Conventional wisdom dictates that the use of GPS surveillance technology in sport to assist athletic performance is an overwhelmingly positive phenomenon. Specifically, the health and performance benefits of the application of GPS and surveillance technologies have been well documented across a range of field sports. Previous research into the developmental implications of GPS surveillance in professional rugby league (Jones, Marshall, & Denison, 2016) has identified that there are some significant unintended consequences of their use for elite athletes. We utilised the disciplinary analysis of Foucault to investigate the experiences of academy soccer players in relation to wearable GPS technology. Five academy players took part in semi-structured group interviews as part of a wider study into the effects of surveillance technologies within an academy setting. We suggest that the now normalised and increasingly ubiquitous use of GPS surveillance technology within this particular British soccer academy is seen as relatively insignificant by its players. However, we also report that GPS use does act to impose discipline on academy players and may well have unforeseen and potentially problematic implications for academy players' development experience.

Shared Decision-Making: Some cautionary observations in the context of elite sport

“…These mediators can have a strong influence on players and their performance, as well as their attitudes to pain and injury [ 15 ]. These social influences have shaped an athlete’s attitude towards Sports Science and Medicine practices, and practitioners as sources of authority [ 16 ], and the worth of output monitoring in general (for example, in field sports such as football it has recently been reported that some athletes disdain load monitoring practices as superfluous [ 17 ].…”

Load Monitoring With Foucault: Suggestions for the Management of Perceived Exertion in the Elite Sport Context

“…However, despite the perceived benefits of subjectively monitoring RPE, recently, authors have cautioned that athlete subjective monitoring should not automatically be accepted as "universally beneficial" (23) and its use should be carefully monitored and routinely reviewed. Moreover, concerns have also been raised regarding the use of other surveillance technologies that adopt objective monitoring (e.g., Global Positioning Systems) (25). We also feel that similar concerns need to be raised regarding the appropriateness of a routine application of session RPE in elite sport settings.…”

“…The norm defines a standard or criteria of judgment; thus, identifying all those who do not meet the standard. In an applied sporting context, this failure to adhere to a prescribed norm may create a tense situation and prove problematic for the athlete (25). For example, if an athlete's RPE score does not conform to their teammates or the coach's RIE, they may be challenged as to why this is the case.…”

“…We argue that this is a central consideration given that for the most part, players and athletes within a squad/organization are unlikely (because of their docility) to ever subjectively report exertion in any way that may jeopardize their positions or access to performance opportunities. Correspondingly, athletes remain largely passive to secure their favorable position within their institution (25). For example, athletes are now becoming increasingly aware of the political implications of the data they generate, particularly as it relates to their fortunes within the club/team/ program context (25).…”

Sports Chaplaincy, Theology and Social Theory Disrupting Performance-Based Identity in Elite Sporting Contexts

“…. normalise individuals into useful, docile bodies' (p. 73) has been taken up by a range of scholars investigating sports coaching (Denison 2007;Denison et al 2013Denison et al , 2017Denison and Mills 2014;Denison 2013, 2018;Mills et al 2020), strength and conditioning practices in sport (Gearity and Mills 2012), the implications of surveillance and wearable technologies in sport (Jones and Denison 2018;Jones 2019), as well as retirement from professional sport (Jones and Denison 2017). Lee Sinden (2013) has gone so far as to 5 Goffman's later work has also been appropriated for developing critical understandings of sport.…”