When Tyrre Burks' football career was cut short after a series of injuries, he turned to technology to create a platform that would hopefully prevent other athletes from suffering similar experiences.
In 2012 he founded Team Interval, now Player's Health, an injury-reporting platform that has gained more than 90,000 users since its launch, Burks told Minne Inno.
Most states in the U.S. have different guidelines regarding sports safety, so the Player's Health platform compiled them all to create custom surveys that analyze the safety regulations for each organization. Sports organizations take the surveys, get scores, and then Player's Health works with them to create a “roadmap for safety.”
“We’re working towards 100 percent concussion safety,” Burks said, as many organizations don’t get perfect scores right away. Player's Health works towards this goal by making sure organizations follow protocol, professionals and coaches have proper training and are certified, and that safety needs assessments are completed.
Burks received national recognition for the idea in 2016 when he won the top prize at Google Demo Day, an international pitch competition for innovative technology startups. Prior to founding Player's Health, Burks was involved in athletics as both a coach and as a player in the Canadian Football League.
The “parent-friendly” mobile app connects coaches, parents and youth athletes by making health records available for all parties. Through this communication, Player's Health aims to create more prevention strategies, particularly when it comes to brain injuries like concussions.
There is an initial risk management consultation fee, but using the app itself is basically free, Burks said. After the first fee, costs for organizations to use Player's Health is less than one dollar.
Burks said that many of the platform's users currently come from organizations primarily in the south. However, Player's Health is beginning to work internationally, starting with a new three-year injury surveillance survey in Canada.
