Taka, a Belfast-based sports analysis and video platform, has been announced as the title partner of the Harry Cavan Youth Cup.
The competition will now be known as the Taka Harry Cavan Youth Cup, with the partnership uniting Northern Ireland’s leading youth football cup competition with a platform designed to support player development, performance analysis and talent identification.
Taka uses industry-leading tagging technology and professional football analysts to deliver personalised highlights and insights to young players, while providing coaches and scouts with tools to analyse performance and identify emerging talent.
Andy Waterworth, Irish FA Director of Talent and Elite Player Development, said:
“We are continually looking at innovative ways to strengthen our talent identification and player development practices, and technology has an increasingly important role to play in that process.
“Through Taka, we have found a partner that can harness the power of cutting-edge technology and video analysis to enhance our existing structures and support a more consistent approach to identifying and developing talent.
“This will include a body of work focused on set characteristics that Taka will proactively identify through game analysis. We use the software to support or challenge what we see on the grass”
“The Harry Cavan Youth Cup is a key fixture in the Irish FA’s youth football calendar, providing a platform for talented young players and clubs from across Northern Ireland to compete and develop. Our partnership with Taka will build on this by making greater use of video technology to support talent identification, provide valuable insights into player performance and inform development at this important stage of the pathway.
“We’re delighted to welcome Taka as a partner for our marquee youth cup competition and look forward to seeing how technology can help us identify, assess and develop the next generation of Northern Ireland talent.”
Taka CEO, Mark Shields said: “We are excited to partner with the Irish FA. As a Belfast-based firm, this is a particularly special link-up for us.
We’re delighted to bring our reach and expertise to support the Irish FA in this area and help provide young players with opportunities to showcase their talent and take the next steps in their football journey.”
Since launching in 2021, Taka have analysed over 73,000 games, onboarded 60,000 players and delivered 21 million highlights.
