Go Perform Partnership Supports our Elite Athletes

In 2017, Reading-based sports performance and injury centre, Go Perform, began to support our Sports Scholars with regular physiotherapy assessments throughout the year. This relationship has since developed to provide all our elite athletes in the Advance Performer Programme (APP) with these sessions, together with educational seminars and sports science support.

Andy Gallacher, Head of Rugby and Athletic Development commented “The biggest advantage to our students is their medical expertise; they have physiotherapists, sports therapists, sports psychologists and nutritionists all on site.

They also have world class facilities including altitude training, anti-gravity treadmills, track, game ready recovery equipment and Normatec recovery equipment. I think the best way to sum up the relationship between Sports Scholars, the APP and Go Perform is not that they offer what we can’t, but support what we already offer.”

Andy continued, “The whole team at Go Perform have all worked in professional sport at the highest level. Dan and Luke, the owners of Go Perform have been employed by numerous professional football clubs including Reading, Norwich and Watford, as well as other pro sports teams.

There are often professional athletes in the building and so for students to get to work in the same space as these pro athletes and receive the same treatment or work out alongside them is a real positive. They have also sponsored the U14 and U15 rugby league that we created this year with local independent and state schools.”

Dan Buchanan, Go Perform Owner, commented “We run a variety of seminars, fieldtrips and workshops, from strength and conditioning to injury prevention to mental health. We are an experienced multi-disciplinary team working across a range of elite and professional sports. We started Go Perform to make the Sports Medicine and Performance work we were previously involved with at Reading FC, accessible and available to all.”

Dan continued to describe the enjoyment he and the team are able to get out of building relationships with and monitoring the progression of our motivated students: “We run monthly MOT’s with the School’s talented, young Sports Scholars and APP athletes. These regular screenings allow us to get to know the students and provide tailored programmes; for example, Kate in the Upper Sixth. As a GB Kayaker and Olympic hopeful we assess how she moves, what could predispose her to injury and work from there.

Our work is closely linked to what the Sport, PE and Wellness Department do in terms of athletic development. It is also nice that we often get to know the parents of these students as they have discounted access to come to us outside of school.”

Hugo in Year 11 is part of the 1^st XV Rugby team for Leighton Park and a volunteer in the co-curricular Judo Hobby; a sport that he has taking part in since joining in Year 9. He is able to benefit from the APP and Go Perform’s involvement with the programme.

“We went to a really useful seminar preseason, at the start of the year, where Go Perform had three different speakers who all gave insightful talks. They helped remind me of the things I should be doing to support my training. The team there are all trained to a really high level.” commented Hugo.