New Canterbury vest gives players the EDGE

Canterbury is giving players at all levels the chance to raise their game on the pitch, through a new collaboration with GPS tracking specialists PlayerData.

The partnership, which is the first of its kind in the sport, sees Canterbury bring PlayerData’s world-class EDGE technology into a specially designed vest. The vest, which is now available at canterbury.com and playerdata.com, is a gamechanger for players looking to enhance their fitness and movement on the pitch.

PlayerData’s state-of-the-art EDGE technology transforms the way athletes train and play. It allows coaches and players to monitor speed, distance and agility, which can be used to look at trends and make comparisons. The wearable tracker comes with a mobile app so players in a team can compare their results, revolutionising the way they work together to win on the pitch.

With 120 years of experience in rugby innovation, Canterbury aims to help grassroots players reach new heights. Its partnership with PlayerData reflects its ambition to bridge the gap between elite and grassroots sport.

Vice President of Canterbury, Jack Richardson, says: “When you start making this level of tech accessible, it can only progress the game. Our partnership with PlayerData offers grassroots teams the very best in performance innovation, so anyone can access data to play at the top of their game. 

“We’ll be using it as a chance to spend more time with clubs and players, learning from them to help us develop a rugby-first product that players want. We’re already looking to this year and beyond at how we take Canterbury and PlayerData on the road to drive greater engagement, energy and participation at all levels of the game.”

Roy Hotrabhvanon, CEO of PlayerData, says: “This partnership means we can show players and teams at grassroots levels what they’re missing. The tech they never thought was for them can now become a staple. With Canterbury’s help, we plan to revolutionise the playing field for each and every one of them and then look ahead to how we can harness the power of that data for the player. It’s all about giving these athletes ownership of their data and using it to enhance sporting communities.”