Firstbeat Technologies and Finnish ice hockey team Tappara have begun a three-year partnership agreement. Tappara’s pro team has already been a Firstbeat client since 2020, but with the new agreement, Tappara will also use Firstbeat Sports for use with their junior U18-U20 teams in addition to the league team.
Veli-Pekka Kurunmäki, Director of Sports Performance at Firstbeat comments on the partnership:
“We are honored to continue the cooperation with Tappara with this new three-year contract. We are particularly excited about the expansion of use to the U18 and U20 teams which shows the team’s commitment to investing in young athletes for long-term player development.
Firstbeat Sports provides physiological insights on player development and physiological requirements in different age groups. The system can contribute to building a player’s career path from a young athlete to a top hockey player.”
From Tappara, player coordinator and junior coaching director Kimmo Vähä-Ruohola said:
“We have been extremely satisfied with the cooperation with Firstbeat and we feel that the service provides us with a lot of added value in support of coaching. That is why it was natural to continue the collaboration and expand the use of the software to our U20 and U18 teams as well. With the help of data, we can follow players’ individual load and monitor their development.”
Tappara will also upgrade their package to Firstbeat Sports Premium+, which is designed especially for elite teams. It enables real-time monitoring of players’ load and recovery, as well as customizable reporting for analyzing athlete’s training load. Firstbeat Sports provides comprehensive performance insights to support coaching decisions and is an effective tool for supporting athlete development.
Firstbeat Sports data has been used in ice hockey for over a decade, with over half of NHL franchises and several national federations utilizing the technology as part of their training and recovery guidance.
About Tappara
Tappara is the top team in the history of the Finnish Champions League and the most successful club of the 2010s. The team has won 19 Finnish championships and gold in the 2023 Champions Hockey League, a tournament for European ice hockey clubs. Tappara has also been successful in developing top players with NHL alumni from the club including Patrik Laine and Alexander Barkov.
About Firstbeat
Firstbeat provides advanced performance analytics for over 1,000 sports teams around the world. Firstbeat Sports is the leading athlete performance management platform, providing data on athlete training load, intensity, fitness, performance readiness, stress, and recovery to optimize performance, reduce injury risk, and fast-track athlete development.
Inquiries:
Veli-Pekka Kurunmäki
+358 207631663
veli-pekka.kurunmaki@firstbeat.com
Kimmo Vähä-Ruohola
+358 40 1522122
kimmo.vaha-ruohola@tappara.fi