Let me start by explicitly stating that male soccer players do not wear bras. Female soccer players do wear bras to hold their breasts because it is inconvenient to have all that movement while they’re playing an excruciatingly tough sport like soccer.
But there’s a sports bra-like vest that both male and female soccer players wear quite often. This is where the confusion comes from.
These vests, although shaped like sports bras, have a main purpose: data collection and behavioral monitoring.
Teams also require their players to wear them for various reasons, which you will learn about in the following sections.
Why Do Soccer Players Wear Bras?
The “soccer bras” are actually GPS data collection vests.
Players expend a lot of energy during games. This energy has an effect on and is affected by many bodily factors.
The major reason this data needed to be collected and studied was that coaches sometimes misjudged each player’s levels.
This made it difficult to work on tactics that could suit their team’s physical capabilities. It also made it difficult for physios and strength trainers to tailor fitness routines to players adequately.
The GPS soccer vest was then invented, and it was fitted with a device that tracks these data for the coaches and fitness staff to use. It’s basically a Fitbit that’s worn like a sports bra.
How Do These Devices Work?
After every match, fans discuss which players worked the most, ran the most or jumped the most. For teams, these discussions are actual data that needs to be worked on.
Many cameras now come retrofitted with technology that can accurately read some of these things, but the trackers in the GPS vests are more accurate.
This data is then released to the public so that fans and pundits can better understand how each player performs physically.
The little devices that these vests carry technology like accelerometers and gyroscopes, as well as something called photoplethysmography that measures a player’s heart rate.
These data are then collected and worked upon by the coaching staff of the team.
What Sort of Data Do GPS Soccer Bras Collect?
The GPS vests are not infallible. Even your Fitbits and smartwatches sometimes record steps when you’re in the same spot.
There’s a limit to what these sports bras can pick up, but the amount of information they can gather is impressive.
In the coming sections, I will list and explain the exact kind of data they collect during training sessions and actual matches.
Running Information
Football is about running. A running gag among people who are not fans of the sport is that fans just sit down and watch 22 people chase after a little ball for 90 minutes.
All this running is data that can help teams plan training sessions and tactics that can help them win on matchdays.
Sometimes, a player can run a lot and fans take to social media to express concern over how overworked that player seems to be.
A good example of such a player is France’s N’Golo Kanté. The little midfielder chases down every ball and every player anytime he’s on a soccer field.
Running stats from a player like him will help the coaches craft training sessions that can maintain his fitness levels while also finding a way to make it work for the good of the team.
Fatigue and Injury Information
Soccer injuries can be horrific. However, many of them are due to poor monitoring.
A player can easily overwork themselves and strain certain muscles. Without the data collected from these vests, a team’s coaching staff will continue business as usual.
GPS trackers monitor heart rate, the athlete’s load (the amount of demand on their body), G-force and impact data, and the amount of high-intensity play being completed on the field.
This is then used to create training and rehab sessions for each player to strengthen their bodies (conditioning) as they prepare for another match.
It is also used to determine which players need rest and for how long to prevent injuries.
Sports medics have hailed these vests as revolutionary because they have made their jobs easier. Research shows that wearing the technology they contain as wristbands or watches will not give the same results.
Final thoughts
Technology in soccer takes many forms, but not one has been as important as the GPS tracker vests.
Human resources is what makes the game. One fit player who stays injury-free is of more value to a coach than a full team that he has to worry about often.
The fitness and health data that these sports bras collect also determine the intensity at which teams play. They have even helped recruit players.
Finally, these sports bras have helped to create more jobs in the football industry for fans who are good at crunching data.
