KickUp:5 and the potential of goal wall shooting as a mainstream sport

Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Business economics - Miscellaneous, grade: 2,2, University of applied Sciences Regensburg, language: English, abstract: The goal of this thesis is to find out if goal wall shooting has the potential to make the transition from a game to a recognised sport, as in the case of darts. For this purpose, a profit calculation was performed to assess the profitability of the goal wall arena and estimate the return for investors. The performance of the players was measured throughout the first league season using the motion sensors in the goal wall arena and analysed by regression analysis and the method of least squares to find out which factors are critical for their performance. A probability analysis was carried out to determine the level of difficulty and show that the game offers the possibility to quantify perfection. Darts and squash were analysed with regard to their governing bodies, rules, circuits of tournaments, and ranking systems, to identify similarities and differences with the game modes and derive recommendations for KickUp:5. The dartboard sequence was analysed to assess the difficulty level of darts and a Python programme was written and executed to find the possible paths for a nine-dart finish.

The results show that goal wall shooting is a challenging yet accessible sport for people of all ages and genders. Mental toughness is a decisive factor, but players can improve their shooting accuracy through regular exercise. Even though the level of difficulty is not as high as in darts, hard work and commitment is necessary to climb in the rankings and reach a certain level of experience. Excitement is guaranteed due to the importance of the centre hole, which doubles the score and often decides a match with the last shot. The goal wall arena is a well-designed and implemented concept that offers a profitable investment with competitive returns, but adjustments in certain areas could help KickUp:5 speed up the transition process.

Uwe Schneider is not only a successful entrepreneur, but also a passionate footballer who had a dream of making goal wall shooting a sport in its own right when his shooting accuracy won him several prizes and trophies in goal wall shooting events across the country. It took him years to realise his dream, but the invention of a fully automatic goal wall arena is just another proof that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and are willing to work hard to achieve your goals.