Universal Athletics Club is holding their annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Surrey’s Mirage Banquet Hall, where they will honour a number of high a local athletes who have done well on the national and international stage with many VIP sportsmen in attendance like Hockey great Indian Balvir Singh and Canadian Bronze Medalist Christine Gerrard.
By R. Paul Dhillon
SURREY – Former track and field star Jasbir Dosanjh was so passionate about his sport that had he not come to Canada in 1981 as a youngster, he, like his medal winning younger brother Pavittar Dosanjh, would have become a top national and international athlete, competing with the world’s best.
While immigrating to Canada brought its own challenges which may have hindered his dreams of being a competitive athlete at a high level, Dosanjh never lost sight of his passion and has devoted his life to creating opportunities for young athletes from both the Indo-Canadian communities as well as from other communities at his Universal Athletics Club, which operates as part of his partners’ Universal Fitness Centre located at 8585 – 132nd Street.
“Track and Field and Volleyball were my life as a youngster in India and I have remained dedicated to Athletics all my life and that is why I continue to make this my priority in life,” Dosanjh told the LINK during an interview at our offices.
As a head coach of Universal Athletics Club, Dosanjh specializes in being a Personal Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach, which he says is essential for all athletes in all sports and not just for those focusing on track and field and other athletics-oriented sports, which he says are the “Mother” of all sports.
“Hurdles and sprinting is my speciality,” says Dosanjh, who is an award winning coach, having won honours for Five times for National Congress in coaching as well as Executive of the Year in BC Athletics for 2012.
“The biggest and best award for me is to see kids from my community excelling in athletics,” he says. “We are the only club in Canada that makes it possible for our kids to compete at the national and international level in track and field.”
Dosanjh, who makes it about the kids and not about himself unlike others involved in local sports in the Indo-Canadian community, is a firm believer in creating the best body the natural way without any supplements and that is why his is the only gym that will not sell their athletes any supplements.
“I believe a proper diet and conditioning is what you need to compete at a high level and that means proper diet, proper sleep and so on. And it also means getting off of things like eating a lot of butter and sugar, which is nothing but poison,” says Dosanjh, adding that the fitness industry with it’s over-emphasis on making a six-pack, washboard body is also killing the body.
“There are so many people getting bigger and leaner with injections and other drugs – that is not the way to make a healthy body,” he added.
An outspoken commentator on TV and radio about the proper exercise regimen, Dosanjh concentrates on young athletes with junior development programs for 16-17 year-olds and stresses that the athletes need to specialize when they reach a certain level and age.
“I always say that you get into sports not to win – it’s not about being number one – but the goal should be to get yourself prepared to a high level of competition and then you can focus on winning. Winning and being number one does not happen in a day – it’s a long journey,” Dosanjh said.
Universal Athletics Club is holding their annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Surrey’s Mirage Banquet Hall, where they will honour a number of high a local athletes who have done well on the national and international stage with many VIP sportsmen in attendance like Hockey great Indian Balvir Singh and Canadian Bronze Medalist Christine Gerrard.
For more information visit www.universalathletics.ca or call Jasbir Dosanjh at 604-763-4232.
