Lech's Academy with an innovative simulator

"Lech Poznan has a rich and long tradition and it’s well-known brand on the international arena. We can see that the club provides brilliant conditions for young players to bloom. Thanks to a big focus on data analysis in player development and the investment into cooperation with skills.lab, we have no doubt that Lech’s Academy will set the bar even higher for other clubs in the country. Skills.lab Arena – the most advanced training system – is an essential tool in assessment and development of club teams. We can’t wait to cooperate with Lech and help the club provide the football industry with more outstanding players,” said Johannes Taendl, skills.lab General Director.

Behind the innovative idea of skills.lab there are creative engineers and scientists who specialise in sports, as well as professional athletes that aim to push all possible barriers further with their accomplishments. The first skills.lab project came to life at the beginning of 2019 in Ingolstadt, Germany. Three more are being completed as we speak. One of them has been commissioned by 5-time Champions League winners – Bayern Munich, the other one is developed for Lech Poznan, whereas the last one is going to come into existence in San Francisco in COPA training centre. What is skills.lab Arena? It’s a simulator that records data during training sessions. The players complete exercises which aim to improve their individual skills. The diversity of exercises and resources offered by skills.lab Arena will enable youth players to improve on numerous different levels. In addition, the system can have a positive impact on the time of recovery from injuries. In fact, the skills.lab Arena can be used by every players, no matter their age or skill set.

Karol Klimczak emphasised the excitement of initiating such an innovative project. "We are glad to be making another step focused on the Academy’s development. Our youth training system is always a priority and we want the club’s fundaments to be even more stable,” highlighted one of the club’s leading figures. "It’s one of the first, but surely not the last, investment into our Academy campus in Wronki where a R&D centre is going to be built in the future. Such projects would never happen if it wasn’t for the financial support from the European Union and the Polish government. I would like to remind everyone that we are a part of Ministry of Sports and Tourism investment plan. We were thrilled to hear Prime Minister Morawiecki announce that the Polish government will support our ambitious project. This is another significant improvement of the conditions we provide to our youth players,” added Lech’ Chairman.

The Coaching Director of Lech’s Academy says that this investment has other key benefits aside from increasing the skill sets of the young rising stars. "It’s not just about increasing the players’ decision-making speed or improving their technique. We are the first club in Poland to employ this system in our everyday work, the same way Bayern does. What’s important is that this simulator will also have a great impact on the performance of the whole team,” emphasised Rafal Ulatowski.

Want to know what skills.lab Arena looks like from the inside? Check out these two demonstrative videos >>> here and >>> here.