Understanding the gaps and the needs of a delicate field such as the sport for disabled and even more the career opportunities for disabled athletes in sport is the first fundamental step to build an action plan with an effective and positive impact on the target.
Within the project IMPACTS – IMproving Para-Athlete Coaching And Training careers in Sport, a deep need analysis has been carried out through interviews, questionnaires and meeting which leaded to the creation of a network of contacts active on the topic.
From the research emerged that our local context is not sufficiently inclusive for disabled athletes, especially with reference to the access channels of career to become coach or trainer. The barriers and the external obstacles which prevent or make difficult the full participation of disabled are many, expecially for what concerns the opportunities of sport and training which, even if existing, are not actually accessible for high costs, logistics barriers, lack of services or dedicated staff.
Similar results emerged also from the analysis carried out by the project’s partners in Turkey, Poland, Netherlands, and UK. It is a shared certainty that sport has huge benefits physically, psychologically and socially for people affected by disability, and that a disabled trainer or coach is the perfect role model to promote sport for all and fight against prejudices. There is still a lot to do in terms of awareness of public opinion and lobbies at policy level to raise the institutional interest on the topic and the visibility of sport for disabled.
The project IMPACTS promotes the participation of people with disability in sport, motivating them and improving their key competencies to initiate a career to become coach or trainer.
The project’s partners met on 9th and 10th of September in Sopot – Poland, to share the results of the gap and need analysis carried out in each country. To have a broader picture of this comparative analysis, take a look the project’s website http://www.impactsproject.eu/ where the results will be shortly available.
CSC moreover promotes periodic meetings with athletes and actors interested in the topic: if you want to be part of IMPACTS network, write to antonella.alessi@danilodolci.org