Kings' Bowden learns plenty from sporting trip to UK

The Sydney Kings will have extra knowledge on the sidelines in NBL26 following Trent Bowden's recent trip to the United Kingdom.

During his four-week trip abroad, the Kings' lead physiotherapist visited football clubs Crystal Palace (English Premier League), Glasgow Rangers (Scottish Premiership) and Hull City (English Football League Premiership), as well as rugby league clubs Hull FC, Leeds and Hull KR (who all played in the English Super League) - allowing him to learn different habits from other elite sports clubs.

“I was lucky enough to observe a training session at all six of the clubs I visited, but also got to witness how the day-to-day processes were implemented and learnt about a few new technologies used in training, monitoring and injury prevention,” said Bowden, who is entering his second season with the Hoops Capital club.

“I also got to tour and interact with some impressive state-of-the-art high-performance centres, as well as attend numerous high-pressure encounters, including watching Hull City narrowly avoid relegation, which taught me about how positively and negatively a result of a game can impact a town.

“In return, I was also asked to participate and present in a multi-sport CPD event, which was a career highlight, as I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my experiences working in a rehab setting with an Australian professional basketball team.”

Upon reflecting on the experience, Bowden, who worked with rugby league clubs in England from 2019 to 2022, identified the similarities and differences between his harbour city-based side and the six he visited.

“Even though we are worlds away geographically and play completely different sports, some key practices and procedures are identical to what we do here at the Kings, and many of the player and injury management strategies translate well across codes,” said Bowden, who has also formerly worked with the Parramatta Eels.

“I also learnt how both success and failure can severely impact the community around the club, both positively and negatively. 

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"Whether it was success in the FA Cup with Crystal Palace or the fear of relegation with Hull City.

“Walking the streets of Glasgow towards Ibrox and seeing the sheer number of fans march as one towards a game was spine-tingling and an experience I'll never forget.

“It really makes you appreciate the fanbase who turn up and support the team through thick and thin. 

“It really motivates you to succeed, which I know we will during the NBL26 season.”

Now that he’s back working with the Kings, during the players’ off-season, he is starting to integrate some of his learning into everyday practice, which he knows the UK clubs are also doing.

“This experience will help me contribute, in the short-term, to pre-season planning with coaching and club staff as we look to utilise the current off-season to rigorously plan the upcoming season through scheduling, resources and physio procedures,” said Bowden, who connected with Jonny Skinner (Glasgow), Ronnie Banerjee (Hull City), Vas Mani (Hull FC), Charlie Venables (Leeds), Dan Ramsden, Jimmy McDaniel (both Hull KR),  Simon Hall and Ryan White (both Crystal Palace) while abroad.

“The ideas and processes I have picked up through my recent adventure, I feel, will help me to offer some fresh ideas when dealing with Kings players, as the physiotherapy profession is one that is constantly evolving. 

“For example, I really enjoyed witnessing how different professional athletes from different codes, prepare their bodies for the challenges and demands of professional sport.

"Some strategies are similar to ones we currently have in place here at the Kings, but others were new to me and have inspired me to investigate further to see if appropriate for our players.

"From training technologies like Wearable GPS devices for peripheral limb movement, In-house IKD [isokinetic dynamometer] machines for testing strength through range of motion all the way to new VR headsets for players to use during initial stages of rehab – there’s always new things we can be learning and new training aids we can be introducing the players to help them play and return to their peak and beyond.

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"Recovery is always a hot (or cold) topic in sport and fitness these days – some of these clubs have the luxury of owning facilities such as saunas, plunge pools and cryotherapy in-house.

"As our boys are constantly on and off planes between games – it’s very important to us and I look forward to helping our players even more this season through the lesson’s I have learnt during my trip.

“Overall, it was good practice to learn from other clinicians to keep challenging the way we treat and rehab players - I feel like I shared and received a couple of clinical and rehab gems for certain injuries, and now I look forward to putting some of these in place this season.

“There are certain things for a physiotherapist that are unique in a basketball setting, and it was great sharing these and getting some great responses from other professionals. 

“I feel reinvigorated, refreshed and raring to go for season 2025-26.”