BCCI to hold workshops for physiotherapists, conditioning coaches

In an effort to ensure uniform training and treatment practices are followed across the country, the BCCI has organised for an advanced week-long workshop for first-class teams’ physiotherapists and strength & conditioning coaches.

The seven-day workshop, to be held from September 5 to 11 at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, will be conducted by Andrew Leipus, the former India physiotherapist who works as a consultant with the NCA.

Even as the Supreme Court-directed reforms loom large, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is going about its business as usual.

In an effort to ensure uniform training and treatment practices are followed across the country, the BCCI has organised for an advanced week-long workshop for first-class teams’ physiotherapists and strength & conditioning coaches. The seven-day workshop, to be held from September 5 to 11 at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, will be conducted by Andrew Leipus, the former India physiotherapist who works as a consultant with the NCA.

In a letter addressed to all the state association secretaries, Dr. M.V. Sridhar, BCCI’s general manager – cricket operations, has sought nominations from each of the affiliated units of the BCCI. The curriculum for the course, titled SSSM1, will focus on ensuring that the trainers and physiotherapists follow the same procedures to ensure players don’t suffer much.

“In the past, we have seen instances of a player's injuries getting aggravated because the state team's trainers changed the regime set by those at the NCA. Besides, we have also seen that many of the state association experts have not kept themselves updated with the latest in the ever-involving field of sports science, so the workshop will aim to address the issue,” a BCCI official said.

In fact, the note to all the state associations, accessed by Sportstar , specifies that only those who have successfully completed the SSSM1 course will be considered to work with first-class teams. “Completion of SSSM1 will become the minimum qualification required to work at the first-class level of Indian domestic cricket. Anyone failing to attend and complete the required assignment work will be required to re-sit the entire programme at a later date,” states the letter.

It remains to be seen, however, if the top physiotherapists and trainers will be able to attend the workshop since the timing clashes not only with the Duleep Trophy – expected to start from August 24 – but also with the pre-season tournaments in various parts of the country. Perhaps, the BCCI has missed the trick by scheduling it towards the fag end of the domestic season. Better late than never, isn’t it?