Team England has enlisted the help of a University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) physiotherapist for the forthcoming Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Lecturer Rob Hamilton will spend four weeks with the England squad, looking after all sports with key responsibilities for wrestling, squash and netball to help the athletes prepare for competition and deal with injuries that occur.
The 44-year-old, who has been a physiotherapy lecturer at UCLan for the last seven years, is no stranger to such high profile events after working at the last two Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Delhi with the same team. He was offered the job for Australia at the end of 2016.
Rob said: “It’s a huge honour to be given the job for a third time and I’m really looking forward to it. A multi-sport event like this has such an amazing atmosphere so it’s a privilege to be a part of it and work with top professional athletes and support staff.”
Rob has been a physiotherapist for the last 17 years and has a wealth of experience, including working for British and English Wrestling through the English Institute of Sport and with other elite athletes in cycling, swimming, taekwondo and water polo. He currently divides his work between teaching physiotherapy, sports therapy and strength and conditioning at UCLan and running his own practice in Ashton called Sports Injury Management.
“I’ll be doing the job I do every day just in a different setting” he said. “It benefits my students because I can share clinical examples from elite sport and really give classroom learning some good context. On a personal level, it’s a great professional development opportunity and I’m looking forward to sharing ideas with like-minded coaches and back room staff.
“My aim is to help the athletes hit the ground running and be in peak condition for the start of the Games, but of course you have to be reactive and be prepared for many eventualities. I’m confident England will be successful in the Commonwealth Games and I’m looking forward to supporting the campaign.”
