By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
FC Barcelona has joined the pool of institutions and organizations that have already decided to be part of the third Edition of EPIC (ELPA Performance International Congress) to be held on May 10 in Mataró.
The agreement between the Blaugrana club and the Euroleague Players’ Association further raises the level of an event that is already a European reference. The first team doctor, Jordi Puigdellívol, the physical trainer, Jairo Vázquez, and the captain, Àlex Abrines, will pass through the Tecnocampus de Mataró.
Puigdellívol will participate in a presentation dedicated to studying meniscal injuries. With 30 years of experience in traumatology and professional sports, the Blaugrana doctor has experienced the evolution of sports medicine applied to basketball.
“We have many more resources than before,” he explains. “Before, everything was intuitive, whereas now, with data in hand, you can raise your hand and recommend to a coach or a physical trainer that a certain player does not do certain parts of a training session or does not play a certain game. Planning can be much more precise.”
His work is highly coordinated with physiotherapists, recoverers, and physical trainers, which are increasingly intertwined. The physical trainer of the first team, Jairo Vázquez, emphasizes that his objective is to “optimize sports performance and minimize the risk of injuries.” This will be the basis of his presentation.
“The density of the Euroleague and ACB calendars generates very high loads. We must offer players recovery and strength training tools so that they can face all these demands and cope with them in the best possible way,” he explains.
Álex Abrines will be part of the round table of players and former players who will share experiences related to the problems derived from calendar saturation. The three join a lineup where the cutting edge in medicine, recovery, and injury prevention will be present. The Head of Medical Services of the Euroleague, the doctor of Efes Istanbul, and the physical trainer of Olimpia Milano are some of the participants in an event a few days before the Final Four in Berlin.
The agreement with FC Barcelona adds to others that ELPA has signed with the same venue of the Congress, Tecnocampus de Mataró; the Catalan Basketball Coaches Association (ACEB); the Spanish Association of Basketball Physical Trainers (ASEPREB), and the Spanish Association of Basketball Doctors (AEMB). Registrations are now open.
The Congress is open to players and coaches, both professional and amateur, and sports professionals (doctors, physical trainers, recoverers, physiotherapists, and sports psychologists). In fact, this third edition also has the support of different associations such as Tecnocampus de Mataró itself, the Catalan Basketball Coaches Association (ACEB), the Spanish Association of Basketball Physical Trainers (ASEPREB), and the Spanish Association of Basketball Doctors (AEMB), as well as others abroad. Registrations are now open.