On April 25th, a practical workshop on Artificial Intelligence applied to sport took place at L’Alqueria del Basket (Valencia, Spain), bringing together sports clubs, technology providers and researchers to explore how AI can be implemented in real, everyday sport environments.
The session was organised by L’Alqueria del Basket and the Cátedra de Baloncesto de la Universitat de València, with the collaboration of the regional sport innovation hub 4iCV Esport. The main objective was to bridge the gap between innovation and grassroots sport, showing that advanced technologies like AI are no longer exclusive to elite organisations.
A key highlight of the workshop was the participation of several companies involved in the I3-INSHAPE Project, demonstrating how European-funded innovation is already delivering tangible results in the sports sector.
From research to real-world applications
Among the featured participants, Blautic, acting as a flagship within the INSHAPE project, presented its work on AI-driven training solutions, showcasing how data and intelligent systems can support coaches and athletes in improving performance and decision-making processes.
In addition, two companies selected through the INSHAPE Open Call, Neil Tech and EBHealth3, shared concrete use cases developed within their respective project.
Neil Tech introduced its MR Golf solution, an innovative approach that combines artificial intelligence and mixed reality to enhance technical analysis and training processes in golf, enabling more precise and accessible performance insights.
EBHealth3 presented The Positive Cycle, a solution focused on data-driven analysis to improve wellbeing, performance and decision-making in sports environments, highlighting the potential of AI to generate value beyond pure performance metrics.
Making innovation accessible to grassroots sport
The workshop strongly emphasised the importance of translating advanced technologies into practical, scalable and accessible tools, especially for grassroots clubs and organisations with limited resources. Through live demonstrations and real case studies, participants were able to understand not only what these technologies do, but how they can be realistically adopted.
This type of initiative clearly reflects the mission of INSHAPE: supporting the uptake of innovative solutions in less developed regions and fostering collaboration between technology providers and sport organisations across Europe.
By showcasing real solutions already in deployment, the event demonstrated that AI is no longer a future promise, but a present opportunity for transforming sport at all levels.
