The start of JOHAN Sports
In 2014, JOHAN Sports was founded by two young entrepreneurs from Delft, Jelle Reichert and Robin van Kappel. During their studies in Aerospace Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, these friends came up with a groundbreaking idea: to use GPS technology to enhance sports performance. With their technical background as inspiration, they saw an opportunity to integrate this technology into sports like soccer and field hockey, providing insights into player movements, workload, and performance. This innovative concept would go on to redefine the game.
ESA First prize
The idea for JOHAN Sports started when Jelle won a prestigious award in 2013: the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC), organized by the European Space Agency (ESA). This recognition gave our founders both confidence and a network to take their product concept to the next level.
Testing and Validation
The testing phase played a crucial part of our journey, helping us refine and improve our product. Our goal was simple: to create a reliable and accurate tracker that sports teams could trust to measure performance effectively. These early efforts set the groundwork for everything we’ve built since.
"The testing phase played a crucial part in our journey" - Jelle Reichert
JOHAN V1 Tracker
After initial conceptualization, the first prototypes of JOHAN GPS trackers were developed and tested in real-world settings. Leading sports organizations such as De Graafschap, KNHB (Dutch Field Hockey Association), SC Cambuur, and FC Eindhoven offered their teams as trial partners for the first two generations of GPS trackers, known as V1 and V2. Although these versions weren’t yet market-ready, they provided valuable insights for further development.
Prototype testing with De Graafschap
A full season of testing JOHAN Sports sensors at De Graafschap, our very first customer. This collaboration allowed us to bridge the gap between the expertise of trainers and the insights provided by GPS data. By working closely with the team, we refined our technology, ensuring it met the real-world demands of professional football. This process not only shaped our sensors but also deepened our understanding of the needs of sports teams
A Breakthrough with the Third Generation In 2017
JOHAN Sports reached a new milestone with the release of its first commercially ready product, the third-generation GPS tracker. This system was specifically designed to provide clubs and coaches with reliable, easy-to-use data on their players’ performance and fitness. The product was a game-changer, allowing sports teams to refine their training with scientific precision and help prevent injuries.
Blood, sweat and tears
One iconic moment that stands out is cult player Ted van de Pavert showing his gps vest, even dramatically stained with blood—a vivid testament to the intensity of the game. In those early years, the innovative “sports bra for men” sparked plenty of debate among coaches and media, challenging conventions and setting the stage for a revolution in performance analysis.
Legendary meeting
By 2019, the company had reached an impressive milestone: 100 clubs were using its technology. As their reputation grew, JOHAN Sports found itself in some memorable situations, including a chance meeting with soccer legend Diego Maradona. In 2016/2017, when Maradona was coaching a club in Saudi Arabia, he brought his team to the Netherlands for a training camp. Through a series of contacts, JOHAN Sports had the opportunity to present its technology to Maradona and his staff.
“The heart rate belt became a real burden. Most performance coaches didn’t want to spend much time on this, so therefore removed it from their daily activities and skipped it on match day.” - Niels van der Linden
Setting the PACE
With Demcon’s dedication of development, we were able to launch the PACER product. A project that is never finished, due to the constant movements in the sports technology industry. New insights arrive every day and I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I do know we’re in this for the long run. Keeping up the pace in our development with Demcon and staying focussed on improving healthy performances. A sprint means nothing if you don’t know the recovery after. We hope we can inspire more teams with this vision.
Dedication of DEMCON
In januari 2021 we got the fortunate news that technology company Demcon was going to take over JOHAN Sports and will help us in developing the next generation of tracking technology. . A white canvas with a set of colours and brushes in different sizes. Together with Demcon, we could bring our ideas to life and create the system from scratch. One of the first things was to integrate the heart rate sensor into the same GPS device. This was inevidable after the learnings we got from the pandemic period. The integration of heart rate and the focus on healthy performances was necessary to separate us from other technologies.
“The integration of heart rate and the focus on healthy performances was necessary to separate us from other technologies.” - Luc Binnendijk
The next decade: 2034
The developments we’ve made and learnings over the past 10 years have been huge. The intensity in Football and Field Hockey went through the roof. According to several studies, the amount of sprint distance (>20 km/h) and high-intensity distance (>25 km/h) in matches almost doubled. This changed the game immensely. With more matches getting scheduled on the yearly calender, it’s not a question anymore if you can perform, it’s a question if you are recovered and ready for the next match. Luckily a lot of teams already understand this.
For the next decade we will focus on improving healthy performances, since there is nothing more important in life than good health.
