Enactments of Integrated, Disability-Inclusive Sport Policy by Sporting Organizations

Abstract

This article critically analyzed the enactment of disability-inclusive sport policies by provincial sporting organizations in British Columbia. Thirty semistructured interviews with managers representing 13 organizations informed the analysis. Findings highlighted how organizational circumstances prompted managers to enact integration policies in novel ways at the regional level. For instance, nondisabled sporting organizations mediated the adoption of integration policies due to the perceived impact on nondisabled programming. In contrast, disability sport organizations resisted integration out of concern that nondisabled organizations could not deliver programming to an equivalent standard. To thwart the perceived integration threat, disability sport organizations developed novel solutions, such as registering themselves as freestanding organizations. Discussion arises as to whether integration is the “gold standard” of inclusion in disability sport. Policy recommendations are also discussed.

Initiatives to facilitate the social inclusion of people with intellectual disability in physical activities with others in community‐based sporting, recreation and leisure activities: A scoping review

“…This finding is consistent with other studies which have found coaches do not view promoting diversity or inclusion of athletes with disability as part of their role (Hammond, 2022;Hammond et al, 2022).…”

Sensing inclusion among visually impaired and guide runners

“…This research corresponds with existing scholarship on disability and sports that centres the experiences of (recreational) athletes in integrative and adaptive sports (Clair, 2011; D’Eloia and Price, 2018; Hammond et al, 2022; Kiuppis, 2018). It builds upon existing scholarship on the experiences of visually impaired athletes that suggest that guided running creates positive feelings and increases physical activity among visually impaired runners (Hall et al, 2022; Jaarsma et al, 2014), and aligns with research on organized runs for visually impaired runners and their guides as part of inclusive strategies (Fullagar et al, 2020).…”

“…We argued that the language of inclusion does not explicitly evoke a commitment to action or to challenge inequalities. Nor does it explicitly challenge power relations and the political landscape of who gets to decide who ‘is to be included’ and whether someone or something is ‘inclusive’ (Hammond et al, 2022; Hassanein, 2015). By doing so, our study offers insight into the lived experience of inclusion which is different than how sports inclusion is typically constructed and framed.…”

“…This research is a case study of one initiative, in one sport, in one country, but it offers insight into the sense of inclusion that reaches beyond the world of guided running. It teaches us that sports inclusion policies and practices aiming at integrating disabled sports participants in mainstream, ‘ableist’ sports contexts (Hammond et al, 2022; Peers et al, 2020), do not necessarily contribute to a space in which people learn how to ‘socially negotiate in a circle of difference and diversity’ (D’Eloia and Price, 2018: 100–101), and how to build reciprocal and intimate relationships. Guided running shows how communication, reciprocity and intimate sharing are crucial to the development of feelings of belonging, perceptions of caring, closeness and warmth in sports.…”

From minding the gap to widening the gap: Paralympic athletes' experiences of wellbeing during the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 games

“…The parallel arrangement of the Olympic Games followed a few weeks later by the Paralympic Games is an example of how competitions reproduce segregation whereas the Commonwealth Games that include events for athletes with and without disabilities is one of the few examples of an integrated competition in elite sport (Quinn et al, 2020). While much has been written on integration in sport contexts including exploring attitudes toward disability amongst those directly involved in integrated events (see for example, Misener et al, 2015;Paradis et al, 2017;Quinn et al, 2020), managerial perspectives on integration policies and sport delivery (Kitchin and Howe, 2014;Hammond et al, 2021) and the experiences of para-athletes in integrated organizations (Howe, 2007), little research has considered how the implications of integration shape and constrain athlete wellbeing.…”