This spring, Cavaliers quarterback Emerson Peterkin has an extra tool at his disposal to hone his ability to think quickly and make snap decisions that could change the course of the game.

“Overall, it’s been a great addition to how I train and prepare and it’s really helped me improve my game,” said Peterkin.

In collaboration with Champlain’s Information Technology department, the Cavaliers have installed a 360-degree camera on the quarterback’s helmet that records during team practices and can be watched back using a virtual reality headset.

“The idea is that you can relive the practice and reconsider the decisions you made in the moment,” said Coach Shawn Mayne.

He said the VR playback allows the QB to prepare for possible outcomes as if he is really living them over and over again.

“With the VR headset, you can speed up the footage and practice taking decisions faster than in real life. And it will feel slower during the actual game,” said Mayne.

The footage can also be slowed so the user can take the time to evaluate every detail.

“I believe its biggest benefits have been slowing the game down which has been a big help for me,” said Peterkin. “It makes everything easier to understand and gives me a better feel for what’s going on. For example, I’m able to recognize coverages a lot quicker when I’m using the headset, and things make more sense when I go back and review.”

Sophie Morin, a recreational activities technician in the Student Services department, began researching what makes VR a more effective training tool for pattern recognition and knowledge transferability while studying at Bishop’s University.

Her project, “Investigating Playback Speeds Using Different Presentation Modalities,” sparked the interest within Bishop’s Sports Studies program to implement VR as a training tool the following year.

“It’s proven to be an effective and engaging way to train your brain off the field and this can especially support athletes who may be recovering from injuries who still want to work on improving their performance,” said Morin.

Morin shared her research with the athletics and IT department at Champlain and helped implement this exciting new tool in spring 2025.

“I had a conversation with Coach Mayne about the research I had done and he was very receptive to the idea of testing it out with his team,” she said.

Looking through the headset, the viewer can see the training centre in Châteauguay and the players surrounding Peterkin. By looking around with the headset, the viewer is able to see all angles of the field and review game footage in an immersive first-person way.

Coach Mayne said they have used the technology in two practices so far and it’s not just the quarterback who can benefit from the VR view.

“Receivers like it because they can see what the quarterback sees. It puts you in their shoes and let’s you see the plays from their perspective,” said Mayne. “We can also hook up the feed to a TV and all the team can see what’s happening inside the headset,” he added.

While the team is not permitted to record footage on the 360 camera during games, it has potential to improve the team’s performance when it counts.

“Information Technology & Media Solutions (IT&MS) constantly strives to identify opportunities for the strategic application of technology to better the lives of our students, both in the classroom and on the field,” said Robert Hofstatter, Champlain Saint-Lambert’s Head of Information Technology.

“The genesis of this idea comes from a research study conducted at Bishop’s University which found that the use of VR in reviewing sports plays contributed to both better and faster decisions. We are proud to be the first English college in the province to deploy this technology to our sports teams and look forward to even bigger wins on the field.”

The technology could also help give the Cavaliers the edge when it comes to recruitment, offering an experience off the field that few other teams in the network have adopted.