Computer Science in Sport – Research and Practice: A book review

Sports informatics and computer science in sport are perhaps the most exciting and fast-moving disciplines across all of sports science. The tremendous parallel growth in digital technology, non-invasive sensor devices, computer vision and machine learning have empowered sports analytics in ways perhaps never seen before. This growth provides great challenges for new entrants and seasoned veterans of sports analytics alike. Keeping pace with new technological innovations requires a thorough and systematic understanding of many diverse topics from computer programming, to database design, machine learning algorithms and sensor technology. Nevertheless, as quickly as the state of the art technology changes, the foundation skills and knowledge about computer science in sport are lasting. Furthermore, resources for students and practitioners across this range of areas are scarce, and the new-release textbook Computer Science in Sport: Research and Practice edited by Professor Arnold Baca, provides much of the foundation knowledge required for working in sports informatics. This is certainly a comprehensive text that will be a valuable resource for many readers.