Some Problems in Sports Analytics
Date: Wednesday October 26, 2022, 4:00pm
Room: Math Boardroom - LH3058
Abstract: This non-technical talk concerns the nascent field of
sports analytics. Some stories are told (pulling the goalie in hockey,
sports gambling, etc) and then some research topics in soccer are introduced.
In particular, we discuss the benefit and disadvantages of crossing
the ball and ``parking the bus''. We also propose a new metric for
off-the-ball evaluation. Exploration of these topics in soccer have
been made available through the use of tracking data.
Bio: Tim Swartz is Professor, Department of Statistics and Actuarial
Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada. Swartz has a BMath in
Statistics and Computing Science from the University of Waterloo and
MSc and PhD degrees in Statistics from the University of Toronto. He
has over 100 research publications and has written several books including
an Oxford text (2000) with Michael Evans on Approximating Integrals via
Monte Carlo and Deterministic Methods. He is a Fellow of the American
Statistical Association, and most of is current research involves
sports analytics.
Room: Math Boardroom - LH3058
Abstract: This non-technical talk concerns the nascent field of
sports analytics. Some stories are told (pulling the goalie in hockey,
sports gambling, etc) and then some research topics in soccer are introduced.
In particular, we discuss the benefit and disadvantages of crossing
the ball and ``parking the bus''. We also propose a new metric for
off-the-ball evaluation. Exploration of these topics in soccer have
been made available through the use of tracking data.
Bio: Tim Swartz is Professor, Department of Statistics and Actuarial
Science, Simon Fraser University, Canada. Swartz has a BMath in
Statistics and Computing Science from the University of Waterloo and
MSc and PhD degrees in Statistics from the University of Toronto. He
has over 100 research publications and has written several books including
an Oxford text (2000) with Michael Evans on Approximating Integrals via
Monte Carlo and Deterministic Methods. He is a Fellow of the American
Statistical Association, and most of is current research involves
sports analytics.