Brain-based talent identification enters J-League

Kyodo News Digital & BrainsFirst join forces

The Japanese firm, well connected in Japanese sports, and the Amsterdam-based Sports-tech company BrainsFirst start their collaboration this month with a focus on offering talent identification services to Japanese professional football organisations. “We decided to partner with the Amsterdam based HR tech company to support the mission of helping clubs make better talent decisions, namely by offering them objective performance data.

KD very much believes in technology like NeurOlympics cognitive testing to further improve talent recognition in professional football,” says Yuki Maeda, KD’s Manager of Team Solution Project.

The common goal is to enable a more fact-based, data-driven and scalable process of talent identification & evaluation. Especially in times of Corona, remote testing is of great value. BrainsFirst offers an online validated assessment games platform, by combining gamification and its neuroscience-based technology. BrainsFirst enables clubs to assess the football brain potential – or game intelligence – of a player. This kind of data is seen as a crucial piece of the overall talent puzzle. According to previous experience i.e. The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, applying BrainsFirst as an early-funnel recruitment step leads to more justified admissions & rejections and consequently a higher efficiency in the overall process. “We are extremely excited to enter the Japanese market together with Kyodo News Digital as an experienced partner in Tokyo. Together we can support Japanese professional football to focus on the best talents. We really can make an impact by adding another piece of the puzzle in the performance matrix of a future pro player. Japan is definitively ready for such supportive data analytics.” says Jens Urlbauer, Director Business Development of BrainsFirst.

About BrainsFirst:

BrainsFirst BV was founded in 2012 to define the context specific required cognitive functions of elite football players. Since 2014, the data collection, analysis & interpretation leads to a considerably higher number of justified admissions & rejections in talent academies. Dutch clubs like PSV Eindhoven, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord and national association KNVB are long-term partners. Clubs in Germany, Belgium, England and Spain kicked off, too.

Like to know more about this deal or the services of BrainsFirst in general?

Please contact Jens Urlbauer. Director Business Development Tel.: + 49 – 173 – 513 04 89