Snowdan signs on the plaque while permanent secretary to Ministry of Youth and Sports Nancy Jolhi (third right), SSC CEO Dr Ong Kong Swee (second left), HPU manager Andre Richards (left), Rehab Concept senior physiotherapist Eu Sze Kwang and colleague look on during the launching of the centre. — Photo by Teo Chi Wei
KUCHING: Sarawak athletes can fall back on a sports specific rehabilitation centre to help them recover from sports injuries.
“We are fortunate because we are one of the few states that has a high performance rehabilitation centre that is aimed at helping injured athletes recover quickly and safely from sports-related injuries and to return to peak performance.
“The high performance rehabilitation centre is set up by the Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) under its High Performance Unit (HPU) in collaboration with Rehab Concept at Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre,” said Assistant Sports Minister Datuk Snowdan Lawan.
The initial operation of the centre commenced in January last year and have since catered to 109 athletes from 23 sports.
“Rehab Concept has been supporting SSC since Sukma Sarawak in 2016. The state athletes have benefitted from the various physiotherapy services since then.
“Some of them have even gone on to become podium winners and have been drafted into the national squads,” he told reporters after launching the rehab centre.
Among the most common sports injuries are back problems, ligament strains and sprains, anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus tears, muscular strains and tendonitis in the shoulders or different muscles of the legs.
Snowdan (second right) interacts with an elite athlete while Nancy (rear), Rehab Concept senior physiotherapist Eu Sze Kwang (centre) and Ong (second left) look on. — Photo by Chimon Upon
Rehabilitation after an injury help athletes resuming their training as soon as possible.
“This centre is very important to us because we want our athletes to be injury-free and ready to pose a strong challenge at Sukma Johor next year and in other competitions,” Snowdan said.
He said the partnership between SSC and Rehab Concept formed a part of the cornerstone that will help Sarawak achieve its vision and mission to become the nation’s sports powerhouse by 2024.
The high performance rehabilitation centre is staffed by an experienced team of musculoskeletal physiotherapists as well as sports therapists from Rehab Concept.
It is equipped with equipment imported from the US at a cost of around RM150,000. Once an athlete has recovered from his/her injury, he or she is then referred to the Strength and Conditioning team of the HPU for a Return to Sport programme.