KIGALI – GPS tracking technology, widely used by professional football clubs to monitor players’ physical performance, is gaining attention in Rwanda as the national football federation seeks to strengthen the use of sports science in coaching.

The Rwanda Football Federation (FERWAFA) trained about 70 coaches and other football professionals in the technology during a two-day workshop held on October 29 and 30 at the FERWAFA Hotel in Remera.

The technology allows coaches and sports scientists to collect data on players’ movements during training, including distance covered, running speed, sprints and acceleration.

Combined with other performance measurements, the data helps teams assess players’ physical workloads, adjust training intensity and manage fatigue and injury risks.

Several leading clubs and national teams already use such systems. In England, for example, Premier League clubs use wearable GPS devices supplied by companies such as STATSports to monitor players and inform training decisions. The technology has become part of the wider shift towards data-driven performance analysis in professional football.

FIFA, football’s world governing body, has also evaluated electronic performance-tracking systems to assess their accuracy and reliability as their use has expanded across the sport. Such systems can combine satellite positioning with motion sensors and other measurements to give coaches a more detailed picture of players’ physical demands.

In Rwanda, FERWAFA says the workshop was intended to help coaches, fitness specialists and other football professionals better understand how to interpret performance data and apply it to player preparation.

The sessions were facilitated by four experts: Claudio Altieri, the Amavubi national team’s performance specialist; Serge Mwambali, who works on capacity development for the national team; and GPS specialists Theo Le Floch and Andrew Howit.

At the closing ceremony, FERWAFA interim president Claudine Gasarabwe, accompanied by national team coach Stephen Constantine, said more training sessions would be organised in collaboration with other institutions.

Claudio, who organised the workshop, said another session was planned for next year to help physical performance coaches working with clubs across Rwanda develop their skills.

Constantine said participants who benefited from the training could have opportunities to work with Rwanda’s national teams at different levels. He expressed confidence that those who acquired the necessary knowledge would be able to apply it in preparing national team players.

During the workshop, participants learned how GPS devices work, what performance indicators they provide and how coaches can use the information to inform training decisions.

Theo Le Floch and Andrew Howit demonstrated StatSports devices, which are used by football teams internationally. The programme combined classroom instruction with practical exercises on the pitch.

Muvandimwe 12 FC was used to demonstrate how the StatSports system operates in a football setting.

The next step will be to translate the training into routine practice, enabling coaches to use performance data alongside their technical assessments, medical information and observations to improve player development and team preparation.

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