Athletes equipped with life-saving knowledge
Physiotherapist Michael Aleku demonstrates to sportsmen the best recovery position that comes in handy whenever they are hit in the stomach area. Aleku also cautioned sportsmen to avoid overtraining ahead of competitions. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
What you need to know:
All sport. Uganda Olympic Committee organised a two-day sports medicine course, which helped active sportsmen learn how to manage injuries, nutrition and training schedules
Kampala. Health and nutrition continue to be the most ignored aspects in Ugandan sport.
Most times, athletes go into competitions without doing medical check-ups and don’t feed appropriately.
“Colleagues, these things we are ignoring are the most important in our business,” Olympian Ganzi Mugalu told participants while closing the National Sports Medicine Training workshop organized by Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) at Holiday Express Hotel on Thursday.
“Let’s get serious and do regular check-ups,” Mugula, who represented UOC president William Blick at the workshop closing ceremony, said. “And when it comes to eating, let’s keep in mind that it’s not about the load on the plate but the value of the food therein,” added Mugula, the athletes’ representative on the UOC executive.
The two-day workshop, the first of its kind in Uganda, attracted 40 sportsmen from 20 disciplines.
It covered several topics including injury management, anti-doping, training recovery, periodic health examination and basic life support. During his presentation, physiotherapist Michael Aleku cautioned athletes to consider rest as an important phase of training.
“I have noticed that most Ugandan sportsmen actually over-train. They train so hard without giving their bodies time to recover,” Aleku, who was Team Uganda’s official physio at the 2012 London Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in August, said. “This is very dangerous as it exposes your bodies to injury.” Doctors Joseph Kalanzi and Samuel Guma took the athletes through some practical sessions.
The seminar was a follow-up to another one involving doctors and physiotherapists last year. On the sidelines, UCU official Elijah Njawuzi decried Ugandan athletes’ reluctance to utilize free medical services provided by The Aga Khan University Hospital.
UOC signed an MOU with the hospital early this year, which guarantees elite sportsmen of medical care at a subsidized fee.
Some tests at the facility like blood pressure are done free of charge but federation heads have failed to rally their athletes to utilize the offer.
Evergreen basketballer Henry Malinga, weightlifter Charles Ssekyaaya and runner Halima Nakayi are some of the top athletes that attended the workshop.
