Coaching Disabled Children: A Brief Look Around and Forward

Abstract

The opportunities and life chances afforded to disabled children continue to dramatically change and develop. For example, increasing numbers of disabled children in mainstream education, coupled with increased awareness of the barriers and opportunities influencing community participation offer an interesting lens for researchers interested in youth sport. However, despite the establishment of inclusion as a central principle in social policy as it relates to disability and human rights, disabled children remain among the most marginalised groups in society, experiencing marked social isolation, bullying, stigma and exclusion from sport and physical activity. Bringing together conversations about disability, youth sport and coaching is necessary and timely; coaches are critical to inclusion in sport, mediating access and equitable opportunities for disabled children to participate. Despite a proliferation of research focusing on coaching in elite and high-performance Parasport contexts, disabled children and youth are curiously absent from coaching discourse. Such an omission is important, as in order to improve access and opportunity for disabled children in sport and physical activity the pressure on coaches to develop inclusive, meaningful and effective adaptive practices that account for a range of conditions intensifies. This chapter reviews existing literature on coaching disabled children, connecting with broader conversations from youth sport and disability studies to provide insight and direction for research in disability coaching and coach education. In so doing, critical questions are raised about the extent to which coaches are supported to meaningfully deliver on existing social inclusion policy, as well as considering the limitations of existing research. Finally, the implications for future research in disability, youth sport and coaching are outlined.