“The focus needs to be on injury prevention, and the whole culture of sport needs to work harder to embrace this focus, to provide the right environment for individuals to participate and thrive. This is a long journey but I am motivated by the positivity around our approach and by our close collaborations across Sport, Education, Science, Government and Technology that have enabled us to make great progress over the 2023–2024 period on our mission to reduce the incidence and impact of sports injury.”

Podium Analytics publishes its latest Annual Report from 2023–2024, and highlights key achievements made as the team works to create a world with more sport and less injury.

Key achievements for the 2023–2024 period include:

• The Podium Institute for Sports Medicine and Technology at the University of Oxford has completed the extensive, DCMS-endorsed project to produce the first nationwide report quantifying the incidence and economic burden of sport-related concussion across the United Kingdom. The report is due for publication in early 2025.
• The Podium Institute has completed a systematic review of relationships between sports injury and mental health symptoms in young people (10–24-years-old), identifying crucial gaps in knowledge that will drive future research and interventions.
• Podium announced the Trusted Research Environment (TRE) for Global Sport, and World Rugby as the inaugural global sport that will join the platform.
• MySportSmart – a critical extension to our SportSmart programme specifically for parents and players over 18 – was launched.
• SportSmart continues to be embraced by Premiership Rugby, with Gloucester Rugby and Northampton Saints deploying the system within their Academies, helping to reduce the risk of injury in young people in rugby player pathways.
• In addition, we launched our partnership with The Rugby Players Association focused on the continued improvement of player welfare in the professional game of rugby through evidence-based research into injury prevention.
• Podium welcomed British Judo, England Ice Hockey, Hockey Wales, England Snowsports and Tennis First – who are endorsing and integrating SportSmart within their communities – as partners alongside existing National Governing Body collaborations with England Hockey, the Rugby Football Union, England Athletics, Lawn Tennis Association and The Royal Ballet School.
• We progressed our ‘Developing Child’ study with the University of Bath, to better understand and support pupils and players going through growth spurts and accommodate for early and late developers, made possible by support from East Head Impact.
• Significant headway has been made scoping ‘Young Voices in Sport’, a multicomponent programme of research, co-design and intervention that will explore young people’s experiences of sports injury and create resources to support mentally healthy recovery and return to sport.
• Critically, we maintain our commitment to providing the highest level of information security and, in May 2024, achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022.

Read the full report

The ongoing and considerable support of our Founding Funders – CVC Funds, CVC Foundation and the Dreamchasing Foundation – and additional support from East Head Impact continues to enable us to meet the substantial financial commitment necessary to drive our programmes forward and to invest in our extensive research programme, conducted in-house, at The Podium Institute at the University of Oxford and with other academic partners including the University of Bath.

“With the protection of long-term participation in sport at the heart of our approach, I am extremely proud of what has been achieved over the last year by the Podium team as well as our colleagues at The Podium Institute at the University of Oxford, and I’m motivated by the support we’ve received from both International Federations, National Governing Bodies and Professional Leagues who are putting the advancement of player welfare at the top of their agenda. This spirit of collaboration not only drives us but is crucial to ensuring meaningful impact.”