Based on the analysis of the existed research works, an improved GLA (generalized Lloyd algorithm) based method in LUV color space is employed to segment the playfield region. The camera calibration strategies in forbidden and middle zones are proposed. Using the dominate color of playfield, the region, which contain the playfield color, and the lines, which are independent of player and football, are filtered simultaneously. Line filling algorithm is applied to detect the player region and obtain the player's coordinates. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms are effective and robust. © 2008 by Journal of Software. All rights reserved.