Project Title: Characterising and Quantifying Player Performance in Wheelchair Basketball- Partner Organisation: Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS)
- PhD student at Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS)
- Supervisors: Dr Simon Denman, Dr Edgar Santos Fernandez, Dr Peter Peeling (WAIS/UWA)
Penny started a degree in biomedical science at QUT in 2016 before moving across the country to Perth in July 2017 where she finished her bachelor’s in biomedical science at the University of Western Australia. She went on to complete an honours project in medical research where she developed a keen interest in biostatistics and data science, and I knew this was the direction she wanted to take my research career in. Growing up, Penny tried a lot of different sports but ended up gravitating toward equestrian and netball. At the age of 17, she went rock climbing for the first time on Kangaroo Point cliffs and was immediately hooked. After that, she spent most weekends climbing outdoors and most weeknights bouldering in the local gyms. She has spent the last 8 years working in the climbing industry as general floor staff, climbing coach, program coordinator and manager.
What made you interested in this program?
When I first heard about the NGGP sports data science program I knew this was an unmissable opportunity to combine my academic interest and passion for sport. I was particularly drawn to this project for the opportunity to be embedded with the Australian Wheelchair Basketball teams at WAIS and contribute to the growing body of research in Parasport Science.
What research question are you looking forward to exploring?
Through this research I’m looking to uncover what techniques can be developed to characterise novel player positional groups in team sports, and to quantify player performance and contribution to the team. Furthermore, I will be using data from men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams to help understand how these factors differ between male and female athletes.
Fun fact about yourself?
My all-time favourite movie is Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
Please join us in welcoming Penny!