05/02/2024
Inside ODCN: Adam Dziuba
Meet Adam Dziuba, the Senior Supervision Administrator at IMG ARENA, who has played a fundamental role in shaping the project’s early development and operational processes. Starting his journey from the initial stages of project conception, Adam has been instrumental in establishing the supervision office and recruiting procedures for Game Day Supervisors. His dedication and innovative approach have significantly contributed to the rapid advancements in IMG ARENA’s sports data collection. In his current role, Adam oversees the Game Day Supervision team and ensures accuracy and speed while supporting Data Collectors globally.
Adam, can you describe your role in the early development and establishment of processes at IMG ARENA, and how this experience contributed to your journey towards becoming a Senior Supervision Administrator?
In my opinion the biggest factor here was the fact that I’ve been involved in this project from the very beginning, when we didn’t yet have the tools and together, we thought about what they would look like. I was involved in creating and refining what we are working on now. I also created our supervision office and procedures for recruiting Game Day Supervisors from scratch. We accomplished remarkable things in a short space of time – but it was a team effort.
Could you explain the key responsibilities of a Supervision Administrator, and what is the role of Supervision in IMG Arena?
The key role of our team is to oversee the data flowing in from the world. We are there to make sure that they are as fast as possible and in line with reality. But that’s just one side of it, during the match day we also help our Data Collectors who are in the stadiums, we try to solve their problems and help as much as we can. As an administrator I am responsible for all the above and a few more things, there is not enough paper* to describe everything 😉
Overseeing data collection for sports events across various countries must come with unique challenges. How does the Supervision team manage these, especially considering the different time zones and sports?
Our team is working 24/7 and even if not yet, it will start soon. Only in this way are we able to provide the quality of service that the customer requires. But it’s not just challenges, it’s also a huge amount of knowledge and experience. Thanks to this, we also meet wonderful people we could not meet anywhere else.
As a Senior Supervision Administrator, what are the biggest challenges that you and Gameday Supervisors faced on the match days?
If everything is working as it should then my job requires focus and enough discipline to keep everything under control. Problems or what you call challenges arise when something stops working – the internet in the office, the electricity, the servers – of course, we provide procedures and adequate backup for all these cases, but it is in these cases that my, our reaction makes the difference. But I cannot say which was the biggest challenge, we are working on a living organism. I cannot choose whether a patient’s lung or kidney is more important.
Before joining the IMG Arena ODCN team as a Senior Supervision Administrator, could you share some insights into your professional journey? What were your previous roles or experiences?
My professional journey started quite quickly, but my first major professional step was joining the Flightscope team about 7-8 years ago. I jumped in very deep then and it was the best career decision for me, from then on, I started to ‘grow professionally’ to where I am now. The working culture and watching how others work has allowed me to develop, train and learn new skills.
Reflecting on your career, could you share a particularly memorable or challenging moment you have experienced while supervising a live sports event?
After so many matches, I don’t think I can pick one. Every match is working with people, every match is the Data Collector in the stadium, it’s the GDS in the office who controls the matches. Working with so many people we have had many different cases, and we too are people with a lot of empathy. So, when we have a report of an accident on the way to a match, the death of a family member or health problems it’s not like it doesn’t affect us. We do care, and many times we try to find out later how the situation ended, hoping of course for a positive response.
Outside of your professional life, what hobbies or interests do you have? How do they influence or contrast with your work in sports data supervision?
I’ve been playing football most of my life, both regular football and the futsal version (which I prefer much more). Apart from that, I’ve been a football coach until recently, but being a father of one child is much more fun. That’s why I hung up my whistle. Apart from that, every sport is a form of relaxation for me, in winter snowboarding, squash, sauna, trout fishing in mountain streams and mountain trekking. In summer wakeboarding, road cycling, MTB (mountain biking), 6-a-side ball, climbing and motorbike riding. I have also recently started to ride a motorbike, but there is still a long way to go before I can say that I can do it. I also love to cook with good music in the background and read in between.
If you could create a dream sports matchup or event, involving any teams, athletes, or sports, what would it be and why?
My dream sports duel seems to have already happened. 2005, Liverpool vs AC Milan match. Watching it as a little kid, the excitement up until the break and that rollercoaster after the break, plus the fact that the person I supported the most in that match (Jerzy Dudek) was my biggest authority at the time, moreover, coming from my city… It was a beautiful and unforgettable event for me. I wish myself and you as many such matches as possible, regardless of the winning team.
Interested in becoming a data collector for IMG ARENA? Click here to read more about our ODCN team, or view our current vacancies.
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