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Sport Analytics Association, SSI Host First Conference

December 8, 2020

Sport Analytics Association, SSI Host First Conference

Data analytics
The Ohio State Sport Analytics Association recently hosted its first annual conference, in partnership with the Sport and Society Initiative, featuring 22 different 
research presentations from students at 11 different universities. 
 
There were 384 unique logins to the seminar throughout the day from 15 different countries. 
 
Awards for outstanding presentations went to:
  • Ben Howell from University of Texas for "Projecting from the KBO to MLB"
  • Nayan Patel of the Ohio State University "Using Shot Tracking and Transitional Play Data to Quantify the Systematic Differences Between Men's and Women's Hockey”
  • Alex Williams, Ben Clarke, and Seth Brugler of the Ohio State University for "MAYFIELD: Machine Learning Algorithm for Yearly Forecasting Indicators and Estimation of Long-Run Player Development”
  • Swarup Ranjan Behera of Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India for "Performance Analysis of Batsman Against Spin Bowling and Fast Bowling in Cricket".
Following student presentations, there was a two-hour R workshop, hosted by Jim Albert, the co-author of “Analyzing Baseball Data with R”. 
 
The rest of the conference featured panel discussions featuring guests from around the country who specialize in sports analytics. 
 
Guests included representatives from the Seattle Kraken, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, ESPN, FiveThirtyEight.com, Pro-Football Focus, The Athletic, Statmuse, Ohio State, Too Many Men Podcast, Strategic Analytics, and Stathletes.
 
The panels were moderated by student members of the Sport Analytics Association and faculty advisors. 
 
For those who missed the event and would like to watch the proceedings, the videos are available on the SAA website. Follow them on Twitter @OSU_SAA.