Sports science: digital innovation at the heart of great player experience

Cheltenham Tigers has been a home for rugby for 130 years and has well established women's and men's teams along with a successful junior program.

The club house is at the center of life at the rugby ground. It's where players get ready and where supporters and visitors come together to share their passion for the sport.

Recognising that its facilities are an integral part of its success, the club has invested in bringing its ground up to the highest of standards. A new RFU-compliant artificial pitch, extended club house and brand-new changing rooms mean the club is now offering the best possible environment for generations to come.

When the club set out to create facilities fit for the future, one area it carefully considered was its changing rooms.

A great user experience

Cheltenham Tigers chairman, Steve Ratcliffe, said: "Our vision was to build changing rooms that give the players everything they need.

"When it comes to taps and showers, we of course want them to provide a great experience with perfect water temperatures and flow. But we also need assurance that they will keep our players safe, and that they will help the club to conserve resources where possible. And not forgetting that they must stand up to the demands of a busy rugby club with a packed schedule."

Recognising Cheltenham Tiger's ambition for excellence, Rada provided a full digital package including digital Outlook showers and taps.

The Outlook range is ideal for sports environments. Its simple, robust design makes the products great to use and able to meet high demands. At the heart of this range is Rada's digital thermostatic mixing valve. It can be programmed to specific temperatures, flow rates and to carry out hygiene measures like duty flushing. Rada's digital water controls also automatically log activity which can then be accessed online and used for compliance records.

The full extent of Outlook's digital power can be unlocked with cloud-based technology. To ensure they are always performing perfectly, the products can be connected to Rada's cloud monitoring service – something the club was keen to embrace.

Peace of mind through connectivity

Rada created a bespoke service package for the club by combining digital monitoring with on site support, when needed. Using Internet of Things devised intelligence via the cloud, digital water controls send their operating data to an online service centre.

Rada Engineers use this live data to monitor how taps and showers are performing, and changes can be detected immediately. Rada can step in remotely or if necessary, can send an engineer to provide on-site support. Online real time video support is available for when a problem needs to be resolved more rapidly than an engineer's visit.

"Keeping facilities in shape to make sure everything is safe and working efficiently is no small task," said Steve. "Having specialist support to manage part of this is a huge advantage for us. It means we can focus on the running of the club, safe in the knowledge that the washroom facilities are well looked after."

Another benefit of Rada's cloud monitoring service is the useful intelligence that the collected data can offer. "Rada is also helping us to improve efficiency," Steve explained. "It will use the data collected from our taps and showers to suggest new ways of saving resources. This helps us keep costs down."

Digital connectivity means Rada helps the club to achieve levels of precision and immediacy not previously available.

"Our goal is to achieve excellence in all that we do," said Steve. "Rada is helping us provide facilities that deliver the same levels of accuracy and focus that our players look to achieve on the pitch."

"Keeping facilities in shape to make sure everything is safe and working efficiently is no small task. Having specialist support to manage part of this is a huge advantage for us. It means we can focus on the running of the club, safe in the knowledge that the washroom facilities are well looked after."

Steve Ratcliffe, Cheltenham Tigers Chairman