A Guide to Sharing Power BI Reports in High Performance Settings

By Shane Malone

Within high performance sports today, data is everywhere. From GPS units tracking player locomotion, to force plates measuring force-time characteristics, to heart rate monitors gauging internal load, to additional platforms collecting tonnage in the gym, along with platforms for wellness and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) data — modern sports performance teams are awash with data and information on how athletes are performing, responding and progressing within a season. Typically, on a day-to-day basis these data are exported out of their respective applications and visualised in a bespoke manner for performance teams. Given this visualisation tools such as Power BI have become a go-to platforms for consolidating, analysing, and presenting these diverse data streams in actionable formats. However, generating insightful dashboards is just the beginning. The real challenge is sharing these reports in ways that balance accessibility, security, and integrity — especially when dealing with highly sensitive performance data.

The aim of this blog post is two-fold with the aim to provide a walk through on:

• The best ways to share Power BI reports focused on sports performance data
• Governance best practices that protect both athletes and organisations

Part 1: Ways to Share Power BI Reports in High-Performance Sport

It is important to understand the pros and cons of the different share options within Power BI. We will know look at the main sharing options, with examples from real-world sports environments.

Share Options for Power BI

1.  Power BI App (via Workspace)

Best for: Delivering structured, secure access to performance dashboards across different roles in the organisation.

In elite sports, clarity and structure are critical. Power BI Apps allow you to publish collections of reports from workspaces tailored to the unique needs of different departments.

Typical Workspace Setup:

• Performance Monitoring Workspace – GPS loads, heart rate, velocity zone analysis, force plate asymmetry
• Medical & Rehab Workspace – Wellness logs, RTP progressions, flagged injury risk indicators
• Opposition Analysis Workspace – Previews, opposition key players, set-piece heat maps
• Executive Dashboard Workspace – KPIs across squads, athlete availability trends, financial metrics

Why it works well:

• Offers curated views for different roles (e.g., coaches vs analysts)
• Supports version control, scheduled refreshes, and fine-grained permissions
• Easily update once, deploy to many (no file-sharing mess)

Example Apps for Coaching Staff:

• GPS training reports and comparisons
• Force plate jump trends over the season or during a rehab pathway
• Nordic and Groin Bar trends over the season or during a rehab pathway
• Velocity-based training progressions
• Opposition individual player analysis and comment

1.  Direct Share (Power BI Service)

Best for: Urgent, short-term access — not recommended for scaling.

Direct sharing lets you give an individual user access to a report or dashboard immediately through their Microsoft account. While useful for quick sharing (e.g., the head coach wants today’s force plate results now), it creates governance challenges:

 Limitations:

• No centralized permission management
• Easily leads to access sprawl
• Difficult to revoke if forgotten

Example Use Case:

• A sports scientist sends a new athlete profile dashboard to the head of medical staff on short notice for example as they complete first day’s testing with a club or team.

Recommendation:
Use this for emergencies only — migrate to workspaces/apps ASAP.

2.  Microsoft Teams Embed

 Best for: Integrating live dashboards into your team's collaboration platform.

Most performance and coaching departments run their day-to-day communications on Teams. Embedding Power BI dashboards as tabs within Teams channels allows for seamless access where discussion already happens.

Real-World Uses:

• Performance Channel: Monitor live heart rate and internal load metrics during on-field training
• Medical Channel: Review rehab progression dashboards in morning wellness briefings
• Analyst Channel: Share match previews or post-match opposition breakdowns before team meetings

Why it works:

• Users don't need to leave Teams to access critical visuals
• Supports ongoing discussions around evolving data
• Encourages real-time feedback and faster decision-making

3.  SharePoint Online Embed

Best for: Centralising information on internal portals or intranet pages.

Many teams and institutes host internal web portals (e.g., Coach's Corner, Performance Hub). Embedding Power BI here allows for structured, passive access to reports by staff or athletes.

 Practical Examples:

• Head of Performance: Reviews macro internal and external load summaries weekly
• Analysts: Post interactive opposition previews for tactical team prep
• S&C Coaches: Access weekly gym loads and velocity-based progression charts

Advantages:

• Respects permissions from Power BI
• Organises documents and data in a structured, searchable way
• Good for semi-regular access (not live sessions)

4.  Secure Embed (with Authentication)

Best for: Delivering dashboards via private portals or mobile apps — for athletes, coaches, or third-party staff.

Secure Embed enables your performance staff to embed Power BI visuals into custom-built internal tools. This method still enforces authentication and row-level security (RLS), making it ideal for sensitive, personalised data.

Use Cases in Sport:

• Athletes access their own VBT metrics, jump asymmetries, GPS top speeds
• Rehab tracking apps show wellness and return-to-play stages
• External consultants (e.g., nutritionists or Performance Coaches) get temporary access to individual data

Why it’s valuable:

• User sees only what they're allowed to see (thanks to RLS)
• Clean, mobile-first experiences
• Seamlessly integrates into existing applications and tools

5.  Publish to Web (Public)

Best for: Sharing non-sensitive, public-facing metrics — if used at all.

This option creates a public link anyone can access. It bypasses login or security — and is thus never suitable for identifiable athlete data.

Valid use cases for Publish to Web (rare in sport):

• Publishing anonymised, league-wide benchmarks (e.g., average sprint distance by position)
• Sharing demo dashboards for public-facing education or research projects

Hard Rule: Never publish:

• Individual athlete data
• Medical or injury dashboards
• Tactical or opposition reports

6.  Power BI Mobile App

Best for: Field-side and matchday access for coaches, medics, and performance staff.

Available on iOS and Android, the Power BI Mobile App supports all your shared dashboards and respects row-level security.

 Use Cases:

• During training: Sports scientist checks real-time GPS or HR trends
• Post-gym session: S&C coach reviews force plate changes
• Matchday: Analyst reviews opposition threat areas just before kick-off

 Tip: Design dashboards mobile-first or build mobile-specific reports (with smaller visuals, simplified filters).

7.  Export (PDF / PowerPoint / Excel)

Best for: One-time snapshots for presentations, reports, or external distribution.

This method turns interactive dashboards into static outputs for use in:

• Board Presentations related to performance department
• Distributions to sponsors or research partners

Caveats:

• Data becomes stale quickly
• Interactivity is lost
• Need proper version tracking

Example Use Case:

• A head of performance presents quarterly injury and gym load trends to the board via PowerPoint exports from Power BI.

8.  Power BI Embedded (For Developers)

Best for: Building fully customized web or mobile experiences for performance users.

This is similar to secure embed, but gives developers full control over the look and feel — perfect for building branded applications or portals used by athletes, performance departments, or federations. Power BI Embedded allows for scalable solutions if you're supporting multiple teams or clients (e.g., at an academy or national institute).

Examples:

• Athlete app with:
• Personalized training load summaries
• Historical GPS trends
• Individual wellness logs + daily readiness dashboards
• Coach app for:
• Opponent previews
• VBT outliers
• Injury return timelines across squads

Table 1. Summary of Share methods and best practices for Power BI users.

Part 2: Data Governance while using Power BI in High Performance Sport

Within part 2 we will look at the governance of data within Power BI. In high-performance sport, data is a competitive asset. Whether it’s force plate outputs, opposition tendencies, or wellness scores, mismanaging performance data can lead to:

• Compromised athlete privacy
• Breaches of medical confidentiality
• Leaked competitive strategies
• Loss of trust from athletes, staff, and external partners

Good governance is not just about IT hygiene — it’s central to protecting athlete welfare and gaining a competitive edge. Below we offer some suggestions related to data governance within high performance setups that we hope will aid sports teams, high performance staff and other key stakeholders.

1.  Structure Workspaces by Operational Domain

Why it matters:
A chaotic workspace structure leads to inappropriate access, data duplication, and version control nightmares. By aligning workspaces to functional areas, you maintain clarity, security, and accountability.

Recommended Workspace Types:

• GPS & Load Monitoring – Session loads, high-speed running, accelerations
• Strength & Conditioning – Force plate jumps, gym load, VBT zones
• Medical & Rehab – Injury timelines, rehab test progress, wellness trends
• Opposition & Match Analysis – Set-piece success rates, press resistance, key player insights
• Executive Performance Summaries – Squad availability, seasonal trends, KPIs

Example:
A rehab specialist shouldn’t be digging through the opposition analysis workspace to find RTP data. A clear workspace structure removes that confusion and reduces cross-contamination.

2.   Publish via Power BI Apps (Not Ad Hoc Reports)

Why it matters:
Power BI Apps offer a single, curated access point for users. Instead of dozens of shared reports scattered across Teams and email threads, apps deliver coherent, governed report collections.

App Examples by Role:

• S&C Dashboard App: Gym load tracking, force plate history, VBT trends
• Coaching Dashboard App: Tactical summaries, GPS heat maps, match performance indicators
• Medical Monitoring App: Wellness data, injury risk flags, rehab timelines
• Exec Insights App: Squad availability, longitudinal trends, staffing costs

Benefits:

• Centralized updates
• Simplified onboarding of new staff
• Fewer accidental access issues

3.  Use Security Groups (Not Individual Permissions)

Why it matters:
Managing access manually for each person is time-consuming and prone to error — especially in fast-moving environments like sport, where staff turnover and role changes are common.

How to do it:

• Create security groups aligned with staff roles (e.g., “Medical Staff,” “S&C Coaches,” “Performance Analysts”).
• Assign report/app access based on these groups.
• Use tools like Azure AD or Microsoft Entra for syncing.

Sport Example:

• When a new S&C coach joins mid-season, they’re added to the S&C group and automatically get access to gym load and VBT dashboards — no manual intervention needed.

4.  Apply Row-Level Security (RLS)

Why it matters:
Not everyone should see everything. Row-Level Security ensures users only access data relevant to them, maintaining privacy and complying with legal and ethical standards.

RLS Use Cases in Sport:

• Athlete-Level Control: Players logging into a mobile app see only their own GPS and VBT metrics.
• Regional Access Control: Academy managers see data for their own squads or regions only.
• Department-Level Access: Medical team sees injury and wellness metrics but not financial KPIs.

Tip: Use athlete IDs or team names in your dataset and tie them to the user's login credentials to apply filtering automatically.

5.  Schedule Refreshes & Monitor Data Health

Why it matters:
Performance data is time-sensitive. Late or failed refreshes can result in decisions being made on outdated or incorrect data.

Examples of Refresh Needs:

• GPS / HR / VBT: Refresh immediately after training sessions
• Force Plate: Refresh after testing blocks (e.g., every Monday)
• Wellness Logs: Refresh each morning
• Opposition Reports: Nightly refreshes before match prep meetings

Best Practices:

• Use automated refresh schedules aligned to session timing
• Set up alerts for failed refreshes
• Document and audit refresh times for consistency

Sport Example:
If the Tuesday opposition report fails to refresh overnight, you risk coaches walking into the team meeting with incomplete analysis — and making decisions based on last week’s data.

6.  Document Metrics, Definitions, and Models

Why it matters:
Misunderstandings around data definitions can lead to misinterpretation, miscommunication, and lost trust in the reports.

What to Document:

• Metrics: What counts as high-speed running? What’s the force asymmetry threshold?
• Zones: Velocity zones for different lifts or player positions
• Data Sources: Who supplies the data? GPS vendor, heart rate chest straps, VBT sensors, etc.

How to Present It:

• Use a “Data Dictionary” report page
• Add tooltips or pop-ups within dashboards
• Maintain a shared glossary document on SharePoint

Sport Example:
One club defines “high-speed” as 19.8 km/h+, another uses 21.0+. If those thresholds aren’t documented, comparing reports across teams or seasons becomes misleading.

7.  Avoid “Publish to Web” for Player or Tactical Data

Why it matters:
“Publish to web” generates a public, anonymous link — it does not require login and can be indexed by search engines.

NEVER publish:

• GPS outputs
• VBT, force plate, or gym load dashboards
• Medical data
• Opposition tactics
• Player-specific insights

Acceptable only for:

• Anonymized research dashboards
• Aggregate metrics used for public presentations or education
• Internal education tools shared publicly with prior anonymization

8.  Version Control for PBIX Files

Why it matters:
PBIX files are the source of your Power BI reports. Losing version control means you can’t roll back errors, track changes, or enable team collaboration.

Best Practices:

• Store files in versioned cloud storage (e.g., SharePoint, OneDrive)
• Use consistent naming (e.g., ForcePlate_MonthlySummary_v2.3.pbix)
• Keep a changelog (either in a text file or in the report itself)

Sport Example:
A sports scientist accidentally deletes a calculated column in a gym load dashboard. With version control, you can quickly restore the last working version.

9.  Regularly Review Access and Governance

Why it matters:
Access that once made sense can quickly become outdated — especially in sport, where staff move frequently and new roles are created often.

Review Triggers:

• End of season or pre-season resets
• Contract changes or offboarding
• Departmental audits
• App performance and usage checks

What to Audit:

• Who has access to each workspace and app?
• Are security groups still accurate?
• Are there inactive users or shared links that need revoking?

Sport Example:
An assistant coach who left mid-season still has access to match analysis dashboards unless removed from the security group.

Real Life Example

It is important that we provide a real-life working example of how to utilise the information within the blog therefore we will now work through a real-life example of data structure, governance and data sharing trough Power BI, that you may apply within your own high-performance environment. As a sports scientist, head of performance or lead S&C you have built the below:

• GPS Data Dashboards: Session load, maximal speed, percentage maximal speed, high-speed running, acceleration, deceleration sprint distance
• Force Plate Reports: CMJ trends, RSI trends, asymmetries, fatigue markers
• Nordic and Groin Reports: Nordic fall out peak force, asymmetries, groin bar peak force and asymmetries.
• Gym Load & VBT Dashboards: Weekly tonnage, barbell velocity zones
• Injury Analysis: Number, type, grade, recovery timeline, mechanism, site
• Heart Rate & Quick Recovery Reports: HR_max, HR_avg, time in zones, readiness markers

Below is a suggested governance structure for Power BI reports:

• Workspaces:
• Performance Monitoring
• Strength & Conditioning
• Medical & RTP
• Match Analysis
• Executive Insights
• Power BI Apps:
• Coaching Dashboard App (Match + GPS)
• S&C App (Gym + VBT + Force Plate)
• Medical App (Wellness + RTP)
• Exec Overview App
• RLS:
• Players see their own data only
• Coaches see team-level views
• Embedded in Teams:
• Coaches check dashboards during live training via tablets
• Medical staff review wellness data before sessions
• Refresh Strategy:
• GPS data refreshes 15 minutes post-session
• Force plate refreshes weekly
• Wellness refreshes daily before 8:00am

This system delivers the right data to the right people at the right time — while protecting athlete privacy and institutional knowledge.

Final Thoughts

Power BI offers sports teams powerful tools to transform complex performance data into actionable insights. But how you share those insights — and how you govern that process — is just as important as the reports themselves.

• Be deliberate in your sharing methods.
• Prioritize athlete privacy and competitive advantage.
• Make governance a living process that evolves with your organization.

When you get sharing and governance right, you empower your people to make data informed decisions, while remaining the human in the loop and using your theoretical knowledge in conjunction with data to give your team the competitive edge data can deliver.

Shane Malone, PhD

Sports Science Consultant at Sports Horizon

Lecturer in TU Dublin – Tallaght Campus

Sports Scientist at Dublin GAA