Developing together towards an even safer ice hockey environment
The ice sports division of Ilves ry and the Finnish company Northern Sports Insight and Intelligence Oy – developers of the ACT Head Impact Tracker – are continuing their collaboration for a second season. The goal of this partnership is to identify practical tools and operational practices for junior ice hockey that will increase understanding of the impact forces experienced by players’ heads and help improve player safety.
This season, the partnership takes another concrete step forward as ACT Head Impact Tracker sensors are introduced for use by Ilves’s U16 SM team. These sensors allow for the measurement and monitoring of impacts to players’ heads – and the resulting physical stress – both in specific individual incidents and over longer periods. Beyond the measurement aspect, the collaboration explores how the collected data can be utilized in the practical environment of junior ice hockey, and what kind of practices can be developed to support the brain health and safety of the players.
“I am very pleased that our collaboration with Ilves ry’s ice sports division – which began as early as last season – is continuing and deepening,” says Heidi Kivimaa, CEO of Northern Sports Insight and Intelligence Oy and one of the developers of the ACT Head Impact Tracker. According to Kivimaa, the partnership also represents a fusion of Finnish sports and technological development. “It is a pleasure and a privilege to collaborate with an organization that seeks not only to improve its own practices and develop its athletes, but also to contribute to the advancement of the sport as a whole. From the perspective of a Finnish technology startup, it is fantastic to see Finnish growth companies and sports organizations working together to create new expertise, technologies, and services – innovations that may also hold potential on an international scale.”
Ilves Aims to Be Part of the Development
Hannu Toivo, Executive Director of the Ice Sports Division at Ilves ry, considers the continuation of the partnership a natural step following the experiences of the first season.
“For us at Ilves, it is important that we do not merely observe developments in sports and player safety, but that we also actively participate in developing better practices. Our collaboration with Heidi and Northern Sports Insight and Intelligence Oy is an excellent example of this. We have gained a partner that possesses strong expertise while also demonstrating a genuine desire to listen to the everyday needs of the sports club, its coaches, and its players. The experiences from our first season of collaboration were very positive, so it felt natural to continue the partnership and take it to the next stage.” This season, the focus is specifically on a pilot project being conducted with the U16 SM (national championship level) team.
“I find it extremely valuable that we are able to gather objective data on the actual impact forces directed at the head in junior ice hockey. This measured data helps us better understand the phenomenon and provides a foundation for improving coaching, player safety, and our operational practices. At its best, this work can generate expertise and practices that will benefit not only our own players but the broader world of junior ice hockey in the future,” says Toivo.
According to Kivimaa, practical applicability is the core premise of this collaboration. “The goal is clear: we need to find suitable tools and practices tailored to the needs and realities of junior ice hockey – tools that can tangibly improve player brain health and safety. The role of the ACT Head Impact Tracker is to make impacts and the load visible, objectively measurable, and trackable.” Kivimaa also emphasizes the accessibility of these solutions.
“Developing safe and healthy sports shouldn’t be reserved solely for elite athletes. The aim should be to enable the development of practices across various skill levels and age groups, working within the scope of available resources. That is the objective we are now setting out to pursue together.”
Technology, a sports club, and a sports retailer – all at the same table
The third partner in this collaboration is Sportia 10, a long-standing associate of Ilves. Retailer Jarmo Rantanen has followed the evolution of sports equipment and technology for a long time and sees compelling potential in the ACT solution.
“I’ve seen a great many products over the years, but this sensor incorporates a wealth of excellent features and innovations. It allows for the monitoring of a player’s impact load throughout the season, while simultaneously providing coaching staff with an entirely new type of data.” Ice hockey is a high-contact sport, and Heidi and her team are doing pioneering work in developing the sensor and utilizing the data, says Rantanen.
Rantanen hopes that the use of this technology could expand into youth sports in the future. “I hope that the use of the sensor becomes more widespread among juniors as well, and that this new information can be used to make activities even safer. It is truly interesting to be involved in this project and to see where developments in this field will lead.” Hopefully, it is precisely the collaboration between three distinct types of organizations that makes the initiative particularly compelling.
“In my view, this is an excellent example of what we at Ilves mean by ‘partnership’ in its best form. It’s not just about visibility or traditional sponsorship; it’s about different stakeholders contributing their own expertise to a joint effort, resulting in something genuinely useful. Heidi and ACT bring technology and expertise, Sportia 10 contributes deep knowledge of the sport and their network, and we provide the practical, day-to-day environment of youth sports. Ultimately, all parties share the same goal.
“We want to make ice hockey even safer for children and young people. If, in the process, we can also generate insights and experiences that prove beneficial to the sport as a whole, then I believe this collaboration has been a resounding success,” Toivo concludes.
The article in Finnish on page 16 in https://nakoislehti.aamulehti.fi/7fadad76-5b01-465a-accd-2d520b15bfb0/16