What is a soccer camera?
If you spend time around youth soccer fields, you have probably noticed a sea of tripods topped with oddly shaped, camera-like devices. This article explains what those devices are, what they do, and why so many teams are adopting them.
The funny-looking devices on top of the tripods are soccer cameras, and you are not imagining things — over the past few years they have become remarkably popular. So what exactly is a soccer camera?
A soccer camera automates the recording, creation, and sharing of full-game and highlight videos for soccer games. Most soccer cameras share three basic features:
- Hands-free recording. The camera sees the entire field, so there is no need to steer it during the game. Recording is simple and automatic.
- Automatic video creation. The raw footage is processed with AI to produce videos that follow and zoom in on the action. Manual editing is optional, not required.
- Upload and sharing. The finished game and highlight videos are uploaded to the cloud, where they are easy to view and share.
Why teams are adopting them
Soccer cameras are spreading quickly because they make a few valuable things easy:
- Creating highlight videos to share goals and great plays with family and friends.
- Reviewing game footage to identify areas for team and individual improvement.
- Making player highlight videos for recruiting and for moving up to higher-level teams.
Bulky, expensive tripod systems for manually recording games with camcorders have existed for years, but nobody wants to be stuck behind a camera while a live game is happening right in front of them. Add the hassle of transporting a heavy tripod, setting it up, and uploading the footage afterward, and it is easy to see why teams have been hungry for a better approach.
Soccer cameras let parents, coaches, and officials focus on the game instead of operating a camera. Because they do not need a person behind the lens, they can be mounted on much lighter tripods than manual systems, which makes them far easier to transport and set up. Best of all, the finished videos are uploaded to a web portal where everyone on the team can find them.
For all of those reasons, you can expect to see a great many more of these tripods and soccer cameras on the sidelines in the years ahead.
SeeUsPlay turns the GoPro cameras you already trust into an automated soccer camera. With support for ultra-high-resolution recording, it delivers excellent video quality at roughly half the price of competing services.