BIOSKETCHRetired Professor Yoga Coopoo worked as Professor at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ). He was the Head of the Department of Sport and Movement Studies within the Faculty of Health Sciences at both Wits and UJ.
Prof. Coopoo has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and has supervised more than 40 Master’s and PhD research degrees.
He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and actively mentors PhD candidates within the Department of Exercise, Sport and Leisure Science.
He was the first South African Indian to be awarded the Abe Bailey Scholarship to Great Britain in 1976. In 1989 he was the first person of colour to qualify as a Biokineticist in South Africa.
In 1994, as part of the International Scholar Award he received from the American College of Sports Medicine, Professor Coopoo underwent advanced training in Cardiac Rehabilitation for six weeks. In this period, he worked at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Heart Institute and the University of Milwaukee in Wisconsin (USA). He also gained hands-on experience in the Scientific Testing Program in 1998 at the Olympic Testing Centre, Lake Placid, USA, where Olympic athletes are tested, trained and advised.
He has been a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine since 1995 and became a life member of the South African Sports Medicine Association in 1998.
Professor Coopoo’s professional accolades include being presented with the Research Award for Biokinetics from the Biokinetics Association of South Africa in 2014. In 2002, he received both the award for his contribution to volunteerism and the Development of Sport and Olympism by the International Olympic Committee and the Premier’s Lifetime Achievement Award in KwaZulu-Natal.
In 2003, Prof Coopoo received the Life Membership Award from the South African Sports Association for dedication and service to South African Sports Medicine. He was inducted into the Fellowship of the Mapungupwe Institute in 2011 and in 2018 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Gauteng Sport and Recreation, and the Premier’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 in KwaZulu-Natal.
His campaign for the reintroduction of Physical Education in South African schools, spans over 40 years, starting in Kwa-Zulu Natal in the late 1970s and continues to date. He included his plan for Physical Education in his inaugural professorial address. His specialist research areas are biokinetics, sport science, occupational health and fitness, corporate wellness programs, doping in sport, and elite fitness assessments.
He travelled as part of the medical team to support South African athletes at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and in 1999, for the All Africa Games in Johannesburg.
He was nominated by the Minister of Sport to the Board of the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport from 1997 to 2007. In 2001 he was drafted onto the ministerial task team to investigate scientific support services for the enhancement of sport performance in South Africa.
He was a committee member on SARFU’s Research and Scientific Committee from 1998 to 2004. He is currently a member of the Medical Committee for Triathlon SA, Swimming SA and Lifesaving SA and a member of the SAIDS Doping Tribunal.
Prof. Coopoo also served on the Standards Generating Body in Arts and Culture from June 2001 to June 2004 and served on the CHE committee for the development of standards for sport coaching.
In his spare time, Prof. Coopoo enjoys spending time with his family, avidly following many sports, and gardening.
