High School Today Top Source on Non-Wearable Technology

Five years ago in a High School Today editorial, NFHS CEO Dr. Karissa Niehoff noted that “It is impossible that the early rules writers could have envisioned the advances in technology and how some of these improvements challenge rules writing today.”

As right as she was in 2020, she is even more on the mark in 2025. Advances in technology in all realms of our lives continue to move at geometric portions and AI, Artificial Intelligence, now adds a new layer of possibilities to the already overwhelming impact that technology is and will have on athletics at all levels, including high school. An October 2024 article in High School Today shared some of the current possibilities in wearable technology, and as Dr. Niehoff noted, the rules are being challenged by these products.

The use of technology in organizing, managing, operating and evaluating athlete events has been around for more than half a century. Electronic scoreboards have actually been around since 1908; and with the addition of video in the 1980s through the JumboTron and similar devices, technology has helped shape what the fans viewed, understood and supported.

Technology also improved the ability of the officials to evaluate what is happening on the field and provided participants more feedback, increasingly more accurate and more quickly. Electronic timers have been around since 1912 with digital ones showing up in 1962. Those tools have also improved over the years, exponentially in the last few along with everything else technology-based.

In recent years, athletes have benefited from a range of technology tools that can be used to support efforts to improve as individuals. Used during team practice and individual training, many of these devices provide feedback to the athlete or coach. That feedback can then be used to guide the athlete in several areas. The technology can include video analysis, smart-equipment, data analysis, AR/VR and robotics competition. The data provided by these devices can then be used to support the athlete in dealing with injury prevention, fine-tuning their training regimen, or giving them the opportunity to repeat a skill working toward improvement.

A previous HST article (Dartmouth Introduces Robots to Eliminate Live Tackling in Practice; September 2017) highlighted the use of robotic tackling dummies that allowed athletes not only the opportunity to run a drill repeatedly, but to avoid injuries while doing so. Many high schools now use that type of robotic technology in football practice every day.

The use of AR/VR (Artificial Reality/Virtual Reality) equipment in sports has expanded significantly since another High School Today article highlighted its use in high school athletics in 2023 (Use of Virtual Reality – and its Companions – in Athletics; November 2023). Seemingly unheard of five years ago, schools are now building VR batting cages/driving ranges as part of their athletic complexes, providing their athletes with the opportunity to perfect their swing indoors. Improvements in these systems now provide feedback that can help improve that aspect of their game as well as information on how to avoid injuries while doing so. Coupled with a video analysis system, the athlete (and coach) can then review each swing and develop a workable training regimen for improvement and sustainability.

Video analysis of athletes’ abilities has been around since the first motion picture camera. Over the years, as that technology has become smaller, easier to use and less expensive, it has become more a tool used by athletes (and teams) at every level. The rapid expansion of the value of this technology has come with the advances in AI. Not only can athletes view their recent performance, but the playback can now include actionable data that can be used for comparison, correction and improvement. Biometrics, the identifying of individual characteristics, can then be tracked and adjustments made to improve performance. The use of video in athletics is now a far cry from a football coach reviewing film from the team’s next opponent’s last game.

Additionally, there are many types of smart equipment that can be used to add to the data being collected and analyzed. Currently found in balls used in sports (basketballs, soccer balls), this type of technology will continue to evolve and develop, adding to our data stream. In fact, each of these technologies and ones that haven’t been discovered yet have improved just since you started reading this article. The challenge with technology is not being concerned with which model is the latest and greatest. Staying aware of what is available, making purchases that match your program’s current and anticipated needs, and providing the training necessary so that the equipment is used to its full potential is the real challenge one faces when using technology in support of high school athletics.

Steffen Parker is a retired music educator, event organizer, maple sugar maker, and Information Technology specialist from Vermont who serves as the Performing Arts/Technology representative on the NFHS High School Today Publications Committee.