Technology to elevate

It is very rare that technology can elevate a sport. In this particular case, a new Filipino platform brings professional management and data gathering to local basketball. Dayou hopes that their work will bring opportunities for the youth from the farthest corners of the country the chance to get noticed and find a path to a career in basketball, volleyball and soon, other sports. In an interview with The STAR and DWAN 1206 AM, co-founder Chuckie de Leon explained their advocacy.

“It’s completely free to use for both organizer and player,” explains De Leon. “What we do is provide an onboarding session to train the league organizers, statisticians, SK officials and probably even barangay captains. We don’t need to provide manpower onsite, but rather train the people who are going to use the platform during the actual games.”

Generally, stats are gathered during sports events, even at the barangay level. But after the tournaments, all that data is forwarded to the local government, where it is largely forgotten, gathering dust, never seeing the light of day. With Dayou, the data is collected and kept, and can be collated and filtered in any way that benefits the client. This information can help spot talent, as well as improvement in performance, no matter where the young athlete may be.

“What we aim to provide is a digital profile for the athlete, regardless of location, regardless of season, regardless of league,” says Chuckie, who is partnered with basketball legend and businessman BJ Manalo. “He will be able to see his performance over time. Let’s say a collegiate team would like to identify if this particular player is very good and can be invited to a tryout.”

All Dayou asks for in return is a 10 percent commission on all fees the league and players bring in whether that may be just P50 or more, the service is the same.

Initially, Dayou was simply a booking app. But the market was crowded, and based on their experience, there is no one helping organizers and players streamline their tournaments, gather data, and interpret it in a useful manner. What the platform provides is a data-driven snapshot of a community’s basketball status. Inevitably, sponsors and corporations will want this kind of information to formulate and define sports campaigns.

In an age where information is king, Dayou is on the leading edge of democratizing sports. Information piles up, showing patterns and trends, and pointing out critical information which may help players and leagues improve, expand and progress. Nobody else is doing it. And as a first-to-market service provider, they can actually bring this advocacy to other countries, as well. As Ernie Baron used to say, “Knowledge is power.”

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