Desi Today Magazine
A Level 3 coach in sprinting and hurdling, Coach Jessie has a long list of awards and honours that he has received for his dedicated community work. In 2018 he was honoured as a BC Athletics “Coach of the Year”.
It takes a village to raise a child and according to Head Coach of Universal Athletics Club Jessie Dosanjh, it takes the whole community to raise an athlete. Coach Dosanjh and his team of people are on a mission to create athletes who are not just great sports persons but are great human beings giving back to their surroundings. The Club, located in Surrey, offers unique coaching programs to focus on developing positive self image for kids, reducing anti-social behaviour along with an opportunity to compete nationally and internationally in the sport of track and field.
Coach Jessie, who belongs to a family of sports people. He moved to Canada from India with a dream to start a sports club. That dream became a reality in the year 2000 when Coach Jessie founded Universal Athletics along with his brothers Pavitar and Kulwant. “After coming here we realized we should have a track and field for our community kids. We started with 2 athletes and now we 170 athletes currently getting training.”
UAC quickly developed into a provincially well known Club and currently provides a nurturing environment for all ages interested in fitness and sport.UAC supports athletes to compete at their personal best, from novice youngsters to those at an International level. Every year the Club hosts Universal Athletics Meet. In the past the Club has hosted BC JD Championship and 2012 BC Summer Games too.
A Level 3 coach in sprinting and hurdling, Coach Jessie has a long list of awards and honours that he has received for his dedicated community work. Jessie was a Coach of the BC Team in 2010 and 2013 in sprinting and hurdling at the Youth National Championship. He was also the coach of BC Athletics team in 2018 at the senior national championship. His specialty is in conditioning with emphasis on power and speed training. Coach Jessie has developed many elite athletes who won medals at provincial, national and at the international stage. Coach Jessie was honoured as the BC Athletics Executive of the Year in 2012 and 2015. He was also honoured with Queen Elizabeth ii Diamond Jubilee medal and a by the City Of Surrey Volunteer of the Year Award for his community work. In 2018 he was honoured as a BC Athletics “Coach of the Year”.
Coach Jessie is a strong believer that great sports persons are not raised in isolation. “I think entire community and team of people must interact and join in to grow great athletes.” He is thankful to his team and a lot of community members who have joined hands to support this club that has so far produced national and international athletes. “Most importantly they have not only achieved in sports, but also in their respective education fields and have become great people in society.”
He informs that kids trained from his club have gone to be doctors, some are getting scholarships from US universities. “Our community kids are great and hardworking. I am so proud of my athletes. They get up early in the morning, train before the school, go to school and show up at the track in the evening. And I guarantee you that they never will be a burden but an asset for the society.”
But Coach says on the other hand it makes him sad to hear stories about community kids being in gangs or in drugs. “Nobody wants to be a criminal. But I think we all need to share a responsibility of investing in our youth. Kids need the opportunities to be on to the right path. All together we can produce positive people in a negative world. Sports is a great way to invest in kids.”
He adds the Clubs aims to raise kids who give back to society. “We live in a multi-cultural society. We want to raise Canadians not a Hindu, Sikh or a Christian. We want to raise kids with medals not with needles.”
For this reason Universal Athletics Clubs runs programs that are unique and involve kids
Long Term Athlete Development
The LTAD philosophy tries to move athletes through their development stages at their own speed. This
means that as the athlete matures both physically and mentally they move to the next level. For instance, competition should not be introduced to children at too young an age. We’ve all heard of the teenage athlete who is burnt out at age 15 because they’ve been doing a single sport for 12 years. The
pressure young athletes have been put under in the past may be too much for the child. Yourchildmay be the fastest in their class at sports day, but when they get to a track meet all of a sudden the added pressure of a “Real” race might just mentally cause them much grief. LTAD is a system that aims to cut down on the number of these instances in sport.
LITTLE TRACK RASCALS
AGES 6 TO 8 YEARS
A comprehensive fundamental athletic training program to begin teaching young children agility, balance, coordination and speed. Following the program allows young athletes to incorporate physical activity as an essential component of their daily routine throughout life. This program is an introduction to structure in their daily play without the stress of competition.
JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT AGES 9 TO 13 YEARS
Building on the initial Little Track Rascals training program, Junior Development offersthe Universal athlete the chance to begin technical training for competition in a wide variety of track and field events offered by BC Athletics. Physical development is continued. Additionally, the athlete is trained in running, jumping, and throwing events to see where their specific talents lie.
Separate Programs for ages 14 to 15 years and ages 16 to 17
At this stage, formal weight training is introduced to help the athlete develop general strength. Planned training and competition modeling is introduced, and the program becomes more structured with a defined taper and peak in the season. This requires ongoing individual evaluation and modification by the coaches. The club provides high class training for Juniors, Seniors and high-performance athletes.
The Universal Athletics Club recently organized its annual fundraising gala at Mirage Banquet Hall to appreciate its athletes and thank community members who have contributed generously to support the cause of this club.
