How to import your GPS CSV into Athlo

Every session you upload updates the squad’s whole load dashboard. This guide walks through the real import flow in Athlo: how the file is uploaded, what you review before confirming, what gets learned for next time, and what happens if you re-import the same file.

Before you upload

You need the CSV your GPS system exports after training or a match. Athlo does not integrate directly with any vendor: compatibility is file-based, not a live connection to the device. You can upload the file for the whole session, for a single training drill, or for a match period, depending on how you recorded that part of the day.

Phase 1: upload and map

Import starts with uploading the file. Athlo reads the CSV’s columns and suggests which metric each one corresponds to, along with suggesting which squad player matches each row. Those suggestions are a starting point: the final call — confirm, correct or discard each mapping — is yours.

Phase 2: review before you confirm

Before anything is saved, Athlo shows you a preview with the columns already read and the players already matched. This is the moment to check names, make sure no player was left unmatched, and fix whatever needs fixing. Nothing is saved until you confirm that preview: you can go back and adjust it as many times as you need.

The mappings that get learned

Once you confirm what each column in your file is called, Athlo can remember that link. The next time you import a CSV in the same format, those confirmed mappings are already suggested, so you are not starting from zero every session. This is an alias between your provider’s column name and Athlo’s own metric, not a universal rule: if you ever change your export template, you may need to review the mapping once more.

What happens if you re-import the same file

Sometimes you need to re-upload a CSV: something in the original file got corrected, or it was first uploaded with incomplete data. On re-import, Athlo updates the players present in the new file and keeps the data for players who are not in it. This is not generic version control — it is a row-by-row merge that respects what was already saved for anyone missing from the new file.

Whole session, drill or period

Not every import is “the whole session”. If you recorded drills within a training session, you can import GPS for a single drill. If it was a match with defined periods, you can import GPS for a specific period. When load is uploaded by drill or by period, Athlo can derive the session total, respecting each metric’s own aggregation method, so the read stays consistent by session, by microcycle and by season.

Common issues

A few problems come up in that first import. A decimal separator that is not what Athlo expects (a comma instead of a full stop, or the other way round) can make a numeric column read incorrectly: check it in the preview before confirming. A file that mixes more than one session or more than one day can also produce confusing mappings; the simplest approach is to export one file per session. And if a player shows up “unmatched” in the preview, it is almost always because the name in the file does not exactly match the name saved in the squad — a nickname, an accent, a second surname: you can match them by hand that first time, and the next import will already recognise them.

Before your first import

The first time, it is worth checking that your export’s column names are what you expect and that the players in the file match the squad’s names in Athlo: automatic matching is a help, not a guarantee. Once you confirm that first import carefully, later ones are faster, because the mappings are already learned and only the new cases are left to review.