Sports Data Campus, the leading institution in advanced training in sports data analytics, and GIF Sundsvall, a historic Swedish football club based in the city of Sundsvall, have formalised a collaboration agreement aimed at building, together with the institution’s students, a data analytics platform focused on scouting, player development and support for the coaching staff.
This alliance is built on a pragmatic approach: starting from the real needs of a club competing with limited resources against much larger structures, and building a tool from there that can grow over time. Talent management, with scouting as its central pillar, will be the starting point of a project that Sports Data Campus students will develop hand in hand with the club itself.
GIF Sundsvall: Over a Century of History in Swedish Football
Founded in 1903 in the city of Sundsvall, GIF Sundsvall — popularly known as “Giffarna” — is one of the most historically rooted clubs in Swedish football. Throughout its history, the club has played numerous seasons in Allsvenskan, the country’s top division, and maintains a strong connection with its local community, playing its home matches at NP3 Arena.
With a strong focus on youth development and a commitment to fair play, GIF Sundsvall remains a reference club in northern Swedish football, now embracing innovation and data analysis as levers to compete on equal terms with clubs that have greater resources.GIF Sundsvall stated: “We are a small elitclub in Sweden that do not have the best resources. With this collaboration with Sports Data Campus we can together create good things for the club, improve our platform for scouting, players development and support for the coaches. We are happy to have this opportunity to start this and are eager to proceed and meet the students. We hope this also will be great learning for the students and maybe we find a big talent that finally will end working with us.”
In the words of Fredi Martin, Academic Director of Sports Data Campus: “At Sports Data Campus, we firmly believe that innovation should not be the exclusive privilege of the wealthiest clubs. The project we have launched with GIF Sundsvall demonstrates that, with the right talent, any organisation can develop scouting and player development tools on a par with those of the major European clubs. For our students, this means stepping out of the classroom and tackling a real-world challenge: designing a solution from scratch, working alongside a coaching staff who need concrete answers. It is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to learn how to be an analyst. And if, on top of that, this path connects any of our students with a future career at GIF Sundsvall, it will be the best demonstration that this kind of partnership generates real value for all parties.”
Training and Innovation in the Service of Football and Sport
With this agreement, Sports Data Campus reaffirms its commitment to bringing analytical knowledge to clubs of all sizes, not only to the major structures of world football. GIF Sundsvall, for its part, takes a decisive step towards modernising its sporting department, relying on innovation and young talent to compete on stronger footing in Swedish football.
