Drones are best known for spying or complicated Hollywood movie stunts, but at the 2014 CAC Games the Pan Am Hockey Federation used a drone to capture aerial video for the last two days of both the male and female competitions. The goal was to test the feasibility and the capability of drone technology.
The machine was a standard hovering quad fan drone affixed with a Go-Pro HD camera. The drone could transmit signals for a streaming feed or retain the video for a delayed viewing or broadcast. The operator was standing on the video tower alongside the team videographers and simply flew the aircraft via remote control and followed the play. Initially for all the teams who saw the device it was a shock. During one match a goalkeeper was so amused by the machine that he almost forgot the game was going on. Once the novelty of the aerial filming wore off most teams appeared to play with no distraction as the drone buzzed over head.
Candela Diaz Bustos, PAHF Communications officer showed off some of the final product in a few brief clips for this article. The perspective of the game was much different, the camera was using a wide angle lens and captured the play very nicely. With the drone the viewer on several clips is actually watching the play as a trailing midfielder. PAHF Competitions Coordinator. Laura Macchiotti said, “I am not sure what the future of the drone is with hockey but we liked what we saw.” Mixed in with fixed side-line and end-line cameras the drone can be a great tool and a new viewpoint to watch and record Field Hockey.
