Confucius said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Similarly, Benjamin Franklin said, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.” Virtual reality gives people the ability to simulate customizable experiences set anywhere in the universe, using technology that is affordable and on the forefront of innovation.

 

In NCAA Division I football, there are millions of dollars at stake, jobs and careers won and lost, the livelihood of families of coaches and staffs, and young men’s futures. These things are dependent on the performance of group of adolescents, 18 to 22 years old in 12-15 games played over four months. In the off-season, coaches are only allowed 8 hours of athletically related activities per week, including strength and conditioning, skill training, and football instruction. Being such a physical sport, a lot of time is put into making sure the student-athletes’ bodies are as healthy as possible, while attempting to give them an athletic advantage by improving size, speed, agility, and strength. That leaves little time for strategic instruction.

 

The UCLA Football team is fortunate our home competition site is the world famous Rose Bowl Stadium. The 91,000 seat stadium is filled with history and tradition. It was home to the first ever “bowl” game, and the Rose BOWL is the reason that all those post-season football games are called “bowl” games. The issue is the stadium is twenty-six miles or more from the practice facility on campus depending on if you take the 134 or the 118 due to traffic. In my role as Director of Recruiting Operations for the UCLA Football team, I have to find a way to get prospective student-athletes to experience the atmosphere of the Rose Bowl, while keeping into account traffic and wasted travel time.

 

One faction of the Athletic Department vital to the operation of not just the football team, but all 22 varsity sports, is the office of Athletic Development. Their main job is to help build relationships between donors and athletic programs. They have a similar issue in that when the football team is playing at the Rose Bowl, the donors are twenty-six or more miles away from the brand new $110,000,000 practice facility and field. Side note: all funds for the facility came from donors, not student fees.

 

 

 

I am proposing to build a portable Virtual Reality unit in which:

 

• Football student-athletes on their own time may simulate game situations with customizable conditions from a first person point of view. Players will be able to enhance their understanding and execution of the schemes and strategies put into place by the coaching staff.

• Prospective student-athletes will be able to get a panoramic interactive view and walking tour of the Rose Bowl Stadium.

• Recruits and donors will have the ability to get a full tour of the brand new practice facility, enhancing their engagement with the program.

 

Creating spatially and schematically accurate situations will ideally produce the necessary learning outcome for the student-athletes. Using a full-body virtual reality game simulator will yield increased performance in training and game situations. Such a product will require ample space for movement and the tracking thereof. Programming will necessitate a three dimensional portrayal of football plays with the proper size and spacing of players on a football field.

 

A three dimensional depiction of both the Rose Bowl Stadium and the Wasserman Football Center, UCLA Football’s practice facility, will allow prospective student-athletes and potential donors to experience what the current players go through in their day-to-day lives. Immersing themselves through virtual reality could help these people feel more connected to the team, increasing the desire to be part of the program.

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The plan is to navigate the University of California, Los Angeles approval system to fund and build a state-of-the-art virtual reality system that will help in training, recruiting, and the development ventures of the UCLA Football program. 

 

Virtual Reality will give people the ability to truly get involved with the UCLA Football program in terms of scheme or strategies, recruitment, and donor engagement. There are endless possibilities to the content of the programming in this simulated and customizable experience. Technological advances have made virtual reality more affordable and available. Investing in virtual reality will enhance all the different aspects of running a football team, and will change the way things are done with the UCLA Football Team.

 

 

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Work Cited:

Benjamin Franklin Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/benjamin_franklin_383997

 

Confucius Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/confucius_136802