All eyes across Queensland will be fixed on the Maroons tonight as they chase an historic win over New South Wales in the State of Origin decider at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
While the Palaszczuk Government will be backing the mighty Maroons, both sides will benefit from a rising Queensland sports tech company making waves across the globe.
Ahead of Origin, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Sport and Innovation Minister Stirling Hinchliffe visited VALD, a Queensland sport tech innovator.
Potentially every Origin player on the paddock tonight will have benefited from VALD with all 16 NRL teams relying on their state-of the-art, diagnostic health and sport science technology.
“VALD is a great example of homegrown talent doing incredible things here and abroad,” the Premier said.
“VALD is selling Queensland developed diagnostic devices to many of the biggest names in world sport and giving coaches the edge in tailoring athlete specific training and recovery programs.
“The devices are also used by defence departments, emergency services as well as health practitioners.
“Chances are most State of Origin players on a team tonight will have had used VALD’s sport tech and diagnostic health products at their NRL club.
“In fact, more than 800 of the world’s top sport and health organisations now use VALD technology.
“They include 27 American NFL franchises, 25 NBA and 22 Major League Baseball teams, plus all 20 English Premier League clubs and more than 100 European football outfits including AC Milan.
“Even reining Super Bowl champions – the LA Rams – use VALD.
“VALD is a great example of the significant sport tech industry we want to build as a Brisbane 2032 legacy.”
The Premier today also announced a Sports Innovation Week next month in Queensland to tap into the growing sport tech industry.
“Sport Innovation Week will bring the Australian Sports Technology Conference – the biggest in the southern hemisphere – to Queensland for the first time,” the Premier said.
“We have the technological capability to grow the industry.
“Queensland universities are already producing graduates with skills in sport, engineering, science and entrepreneurialism, as well as research in virtual and augmented reality, internet-of-things and sensor and wearable tech.
“These are good, solid foundations – and VALD is leading the way.”
Minister Hinchliffe said the Palaszczuk Government was focused on encouraging more innovators like VALD to grow in Queensland.
“The 2032 Games bring opportunity to build a new sport tech economy that creates jobs, fuels innovation and delivers global trade and investment opportunities,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
“We’re aiming to harness the momentum of our runway to 2032 to build the Silicon Valley of sport innovation here in Queensland as a lasting Games legacy.
“VALD’s smarts are one part of the sport tech picture that also includes, wearable technology, sport data analytics, smart stadiums, digital signage and live streaming for seamless fan engagement.
“Queensland’s sport economy brings the potential of virtual and augmented reality to the sporting arena, as well as new ideas, applications and technology yet to be developed.
“As an emerging sport tech economy, Queensland already has a network of innovation hubs to help bring concepts to life and lead the world transformation of sport as we know it.
“Sport tech worldwide is predicted to more than double in size and value to almost $60 billion by 2026 with Queensland capable of a tech driven sporting revolution.”
VALD also makes health diagnostic devices, their newest is a handheld strength and motion device called the DynaMO which sold 200 units in a day.
CEO Laurie Malone said DynaMo was the next step in the company’s stated aim of democratising access to healthcare.
“We like to say we’ve helped teams across the globe win sporting championships, and now we’re leveraging all that knowledge and experience to develop a range of technologies that help grandmothers recover from hip surgery so they can pick up their grandkids again,” Mr Malone said.
“Whether it’s in the sporting arena or your local physiotherapy clinic, VALD systems capture quantifiable objective data that help improve decision-making, save practitioners’ time and make it easier to analyse longitudinal trends across high-quality data points.
“By taking everything we’ve learned in developing human measurement technologies for the high-performance landscape and using it to provide innovative solutions to the allied health market, we’re helping democratise access to healthcare and ultimately improving outcomes for both patients and practitioners.”
The Palaszczuk Government first supported VALD in 2017 with $100,000 in Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas funding to commercialise the ForceFrame Hip Strength Testing System.
