A local runner who turned a hobby into his profession has opened a new sports therapy business in the centre of Kenilworth.

Stuart Sahan launched Sports Therapy One in January 2023 - the latest clinic to provide injury rehabilitation and sports massage out of the CW Therapy Rooms on Warwick Road.

A member of Massey Ferguson Running Club and group leader for the RunTogether group Longford Striders, Stuart first started getting interested in how people move after seeing a range of common injuries picked up by runners.

In 2018 he left his job as a drug and alcohol worker with the Recovery Partnership in Leamington Spa to study a three-year Sport and Exercise Therapy BSc (Hons) degree programme at Coventry University.

But despite changing fields, Stuart said there was some overlap of skills used between his old and new jobs.

He told Nub News: "Working within the field of substance misuse was all about assessing people where they are at within a cycle of change, providing a treatment package in terms of setting goals, challenging ambivalence, promoting behavioural change, managing expectations and looking for ways to help people move forward with various issues.

"As a sports therapist these are the type of skills I still use daily as you don't always meet people under the best circumstances, because understandably they are often injured and in pain.

"My approach is to provide clients with a friendly professional understanding, assessing the key areas, providing reassurance, and putting together the most appropriate treatment plan. Then following on from that, working together every step of the way to move through it.

"For me, the reward is to see a person develop in some way at each stage of the rehab process. Seeing them come out the other side pain free, fitter, and stronger than before is just the icing on the cake."

Stuart left his job as a drug and alcohol worker with the Recovery Partnership in Leamington Spa to become a sports therapy (image supplied)

Stuart looked at several premises in Coventry and Leamington Spa, before deciding to offer his services from the CW Therapy Rooms.

"I saw this place in Kenilworth advertised online and arranged a meeting with Charlie, the owner. The meeting went well, and I found the place and general vibe completely ideal for what I was looking for," he added. 

"There's a lot of spaces available in beauty salons or other rooms we could have run the business from, but when you're looking at having the right resources and setting a professional clinical impression from the off, this place just ticked all the boxes for me. 

"And there's a lot happening in Kenilworth, there is a little bit of everything here, so this is an ideal location."

Sports Therapy One offers a range of services including sports therapy, sports massage, instrument assisted soft tissue mobilisation, dry cupping, kinesiology taping, electrotherapy and more.

Stuart can also be found most weekends working pitch-side as a sports therapist for local rugby teams.

But most of all he is now trying to broaden his reach and tackle the misconceptions surrounding sports therapy.

Stuart is a member of Massey Ferguson Running Club and Group Leader for the RunTogether group Longford Striders (image by Tim Nunan)

"It is about getting the message out there that sports therapy isn't just for sporting people and athletes, but is for anybody with a musculoskeletal condition," he said. 

"If it's musculoskeletal, whether you are an athlete or not, seeing a sports therapist is something you should definitely consider as a treatment option.

"You can see within the general population there are a lot of postural issues and musculoskeletal conditions that people are walking around and suffering with which are non-sports related, so I am all about helping people with those sorts of conditions too. 

"For me, it's not just about relieving the symptoms, it's also about finding the cause and fixing the problems as well."

To find out more about Sports Therapy One, follow this link to the website or visit the Facebook and Instagram pages.

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