Cricket elite
by Rodney Magazinovic
A physiotherapy degree can go a long way says Andrew Leipus, a
sports science (now human movement) and physiotherapy graduate from UniSA.
Having found work in England and South Africa in sports physiotherapy upon graduation, Leipus was head-hunted to become the physiotherapist for the Indian cricket team in 1999.
He thought the step up from first class cricket to international cricket would be daunting after working only with cricketers at the domestic level in South Africa.
“When I got the job, India was 10 years behind the rest of the world with their infrastructure, training methodology and professionalism,” Leipus said.
“From that point of view I was well above where I needed to be with my level of expertise.”
Initially he looked after all aspects of player fitness including physical
conditioning and injury rehabilitation management.
Leipus says that as well as the physical aspects of fitness, it is important to
get the players mentally fit and in the right mindset.
“At first it was hard to get the team motivated. It was a really long process to educate them about the benefits of doing more fitness work off the field.”
Leipus took a break in January this year and returned to UniSA to undertake a masters degree in physiotherapy.
“I felt that I’d gone as far as I could in my position and needed to stimulate my thinking and interact with other professionals,” he said.
“I had options to return to study elsewhere in Australia, but decided to come back to UniSA as it has a reputation as a world leader in physiotherapy education.”
Leipus will return to India in January to tackle a new role in setting up physiotherapy infrastructure at the domestic cricket level.
He says that while today’s players in the national squad have access to physiotherapy treatment, those at the domestic level have no support.
“That lack of access to support staff and proper treatment can prolong the amount of time they’re out of the national side,” Leipus said.
His plan has been given the nod by Indian cricket authorities and he hopes to use the skills of some of the Indian students studying physiotherapy at UniSA by providing them with key roles.