Norway FA selects Kitman Labs to unify national player pathway
Norway’s football federation has selected Kitman Labs to run player nominations, camp workflows and development tracking across 18 districts and all youth national teams in one system.
The Norway Football Federation has signed a partnership with Kitman Labs to unify its national player development pathway on a single platform.The federation will deploy Kitman Labs’ Operations and Pathway Management solution within its iP: Intelligence Platform.The rollout connects 1,900 club nominations, 18 districts and every boys’ and girls’ youth national team into one shared development environment.The deployment will support Landslagsskolen, Norway’s national development model spanning from U12 through to senior international level and the federation is targeting a reduction in manual processes that sit between clubs, districts and national teams.The platform is designed to centralise player nominations, training camp management, pre-camp data collection, post-camp coach evaluations and long-term tracking.Kitman Labs said the system will replace multiple tools and workflows used across the pathway.Clubs will nominate players directly into the platform, creating initial player profiles without manual handling between organisations.Districts will manage their own players and activities, while national staff will manage boys’ squads from U15 to U21 and girls’ squads from U15 to U23.The system will use role-based permissions, with a single player record intended to follow each athlete as they progress.Pre-camp information from clubs will be captured in the same environment, including individual learning objectives, training schedules and contact information.Coach evaluations will be written after camps, with sharing controls designed to send feedback back to clubs at an appropriate level.Activities such as UEFA Development Tournaments will also be managed within the platform, with the federation defining what data clubs share and how reporting flows post-event.Stephen Smith, founder and chief executive of Kitman Labs, commented: “Norway is one of the most exciting stories in global football right now. The national team is succeeding, the clubs are improving, and the country is producing some of the most influential players in the world. "That kind of trajectory is the result of deliberate decisions about how to develop and connect players from grassroots to the senior national team.“This partnership is the infrastructure that supports that ambition, and a clear signal from the NFF’s leadership that the country’s future as a force in international football is something they intend to build, not leave to chance. "Operations and Pathway Management is the Solution we have built for exactly this kind of work, and with this deployment that infrastructure will run across the entirety of Norwegian football.”Thomas Bock Brantsaeter, head of talent identification at the Norwegian Football Association, stated: “The objective is to remove the friction in how we identify, evaluate and develop players across Norway’s clubs, districts and national teams. "On Kitman Labs’ platform, our feedback will travel with the player back to their club. Coaches across the country will work from a shared framework. And we will have one continuous record for every player in the pathway from U12 age group through to the senior national team. Kitman Labs gives us the infrastructure to achieve this at the scale we need.”The federation oversees football in Norway through 18 districts and more than 1,800 affiliated clubs, and is a member of UEFA and FIFA.