SA experts help set up Indian sports facility
THE WANDERERS Sports Medical Centre is collaborating with Indian coaches and athletes in setting up a high performance sports medical centre in India.
Top coaches came together in Hyderabad last Sunday to celebrate the official launch of Gaudium Sportopia, the first-of-its-kind centre of excellence for sports in India.
According to IANS while most facilities and sports in India were trying to address the importance of infrastructure and scouting, one of the key areas that remained overlooked so far was mental health and how an athlete should deal with it.
Gaudium Sportopia roped in Sean
Jamison of the Wanderers Sports Medical Centre as mentor of its High Performance and Sports Science Centre to oversee the mental aspects right from when an athlete starts to take up sports professionally.
Craig Govender, director of the Wanderers Sports Medical Centre, said they were consulted to help develop the high performance aspect of the school.
“We’ll be setting up strategies and structures that deal with the medical aspect. We are developing a team of staff for the school which has 27 Olympic sports codes.
“There will be a South African deployment of medical staff together with international,” said Govender.
He said Gaudium Sportopia, which will begin in April next year, will be part of a private Indian school.
“Through people’s understanding of our model of holistic health, I was contacted. The owner of the school visited South Africa once and was taken to four cities and high performance centres in South Africa,” he said.
“Gaudium Sportopia was developed with the singular vision of exposing the promising talents to high-class coaching from a young age and we feel blessed and encouraged to see the tremendous support from some of India’s best coaches and sportsmen who will groom the champions of tomorrow,” said Kirthi Reddy, founder-director of The Gaudium School and Gaudium Sportopia.