Last week we brought you updates on how our unique insurance deal with broker, Integro had led to huge savings for WSA members. This week we’re profiling the groundbreaking technology that members can now benefit from with our insurance underwriting partner, Sportscover. We caught up with Sportscover Chief Executive, Martin Crannis at our recent AGM, where he gave a presentation outlining the new Vital App.
Martin, tell us exactly what the Vital App is and what it offers our members.
Fundamentally, it’s a major injury reporting and communications tool with an app interface, making it extremely simple to log any incidents as soon as they happen. On the database itself it stores all the sport participants’ details, their communication details in terms of their next of kin and any medical history as well. For example, if you’re asthmatic it will come up with your medical plan, so if you were to suffer from an asthma attack on the pitch, your coach will instantly be able to pull up your medical history and exactly what they need to do in the event of you having an asthma attack, as well as any emergency contact details.
Another element of it is the reporting tool. Any injuries you report, including pictures of the actual injury or any bills that occur as part of the incident will automatically pre-populate into the reporting function, which can be structured to any individual NGB. All of this can stop minor injuries becoming serious ones but it also creates important evidence around your sport. For an NGB it can be an invaluable source of data in terms of participation, equipment and environment; for example you can gage which types of sporting surface cause more injuries, which time of month/season/year most injuries occur, what age are participants most prone to injuries and what injuries are athletes most prone to in general. All of this vital information can help you adjust your training plans accordingly to help to prevent injuries in the first place. It is the first tool of it’s kind that NGBs can use for reporting injuries and for sporting and training developments.
How has the Sportscover Vital App been received so far?
We only launched it three weeks ago but we’ve had some amazing feedback from some international bodies as well as National Governing Bodies. We’ve also launched it in Australia and I’ve been talking to European federations about launching it across Europe. A lot of people want to know a lot more about it because I think it is something essential if you’ve got duty of care and you need to make sure you’ve got robust processes in place for dealing with children or mass participation in any sport.
What are the other tangible results you’ve seen during your time with the WSA so far?
I’ve been really pleased with the feedback and with the access to NGBs, everyone has been very welcoming. I hope people see us as an specialist underwriter rather than just a broker (which we’re not) and I think my message is that we can offer lots of other value added services which are complimentary to what the underlying insurance is.
Are there any other exciting events on the horizon?
We’ve also just launched My Sport Live here in Europe. My Sport Live provides an outlet for sports organisations and event promoters to stream live events on the internet. We launched it in Australia in April 2013 and are now bringing it to Europe. We did this in conjunction with the British Weightlifting Championships and the Paralympic Archery Championships. The British WeightliftingChampionships was an amazing success and I would urge everyone to go onto the My Sport Live website and take a look at some of the footage and see how it could work for their sport.
And this live streaming is available to all WSA members?
Yes, its offered at a preferential rate to all sporting bodies, including any WSA associated members.
Please visit our Shared Services page to find all of Martin’s contact details.
