Fast forward. Rewind. Fast Forward. Rewind.

“When I played and even when I started coaching, it would take hours to break down film,” said Marlon LeBlanc, who has led the West Virginia men’s soccer team to four NCAA appearances and a Sweet 16 appearance in his first six seasons. “It would be start; stop, fast forward, rewind and it would be hard for the athletes to focus.”

Thankfully, video and computers have revolutionized the way soccer is evaluated.

“Today, through unique software taken directly from video, we can see every stat, pass, turnover…every trend and every breakdown imaginable and it’s making our players and our coaches better,” LeBlanc said.

The software is called Prozone.

LeBlanc, along with UNC women’s coach Anson Dorrance, University of Florida women’s assistant coach Alan Kirkup, University of Evansville’s Mike Jacobs and UEFA’s Football Development Consultant Robin Russell as moderator, will break down “The Role of Performance Analysis in Developing the College Game and Athlete" with the Prozone software as part of a highly-anticipated panel session Saturday, January 19 from 11 a.m. – Noon at the Convention.

The Prozone software is used by some of the biggest names in international soccer, including Manchester United and Arsenal. And LeBlanc saw right away it could make a difference in the development of his players and his team.

“Obviously, if it’s first choice for (Manchester United manager) Sir Alex Ferguson and (Arsenal manager) Arsène Wenger, then you know it works.”

LeBlanc said that Barry Gorman, his former coach at Penn State -- where LeBlanc played in 1994 and served as an assistant coach from 2001-2006 -- was one of the first coaches to use the Prozone program in this country.  

“We were bit of a pet program at Penn State,” LeBlanc recalled. “When it first started it was still somewhat labor intensive, but today Prozone analyzes the entire game and they return it with data that works.” 

Since the software breaks down every single touch in a game, each coach can decide what they are looking for.

“We try and look for trends. We can look at who is making crosses, the result of each cross and even the part of the field where crosses are having the most success.

“We all know possession is critical in soccer,” LeBlanc continued.  “However, with the Prozone software we can look at possession in certain parts of the field. For the West Virginia team, we want to have possession in our attacking third and we want to analyze our passes, our touch and our movement in the offensive third.

“Back in the day, it would be fast forward and rewind – today we can be so much more productive with the player, the team and the coaching staff.  We can get the answers quickly … we can pull up the information we need with a click of the button.

“This brings accountability; making sure players are able to analyze their game effectively while also giving them information that helps them get better."

LeBlanc said that he has witnessed first-hand how the software has made his players better.

“Raymon Gaddis is having an amazing year with (Major League Soccer’s) Philadelphia (Union),” said LeBlanc, who has coached five All-America’s at West Virginia, including Gaddis.  “We were able to show Raymon not only what he was doing on the field, but the trends of many of the attacking players he would face.  He would look at their trends and make the adjustments even before the game started.”

LeBlanc was able to show Gaddis those trends, because more and more college coaches are using the software (that can be generated from a single midfield camera). LeBlanc also noted more and more coaches are sharing the data.

“That’s another reason I am excited to be a part of the panel at the NSCAA Convention with so many great soccer minds,” he said. “Because you can expect that Anson uses the software in a different way than Robin Russell and so on … but by sharing the information we all get better.” 

LeBlanc said that anytime he has the opportunity to pick something off from another coach, “I run and grab it and then put by own spin on it.”

He said that sharing this information has always been the spirit of the NSCAA and it’s a “spirit that was passed down to me.”

“(NSCAA Honor Award winner) Schellas Hyndman (now the head coach at FC Dallas) and Barry (Gorman) were always the first in line to coach and teach me as part of the NSCAA mission,” said LeBlanc. “And that was never lost one me.  The NSCAA helped me as a young coach, so I feel like it’s my duty to do the same.

“As one of just a handful of black coaches at the Division I level, it also allows me to be a leader and a mentor to other coaches of color who aspire to coach at a higher level.”

LeBlanc does not hide the fact that using the Prozone software, even if it means raising funds on his own, definitely allows him to coach at a higher level.

“It literally has made my job easier and I am sure it has made our players better,” LeBlanc said, who pointed out that several youth soccer academy teams in the United States are now using the software, too.

“As a coach, when you can find relevant and helpful bits of information to fix problems and develop solutions, it’s going to help your team and your players move forward,” said LeBlanc.  That’s exactly what this software does.”

That’s exactly what LeBlanc, Dorrance, Kirkup and Russell will demonstrate Saturday, Jan. 19 at the 2013 NSCAA Convention.

About Prozone Sports Ltd
Prozone provides performance analysis solutions to sports clubs through the display, analysis and contextualisation of performance data.

Established in 1998, Prozone has pioneered the effective usage of performance analysis in soccer for more than a decade, with clients including some of the world's biggest clubs, national associations and professional leagues. For further information, visit www.prozonesports.com or call our Chicago HQ on (312) 528 1259.

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