Introducing disability issues into the education of coaches

Abstract

Study aim: To determine the knowledge of participants and their attitudes towards sport of the disabled, in the basic and intermediary coach education. Material and methods: A group of 20 instructors, running a coach education course organised by the Institute of Coaching and Sport Education (ICSE), Semmelweis University (Budapest), were interviewed. After having analysing the interviews, all the participants of the course (n = 489) answered open-ended questionnaires. Results: Participants of the coaching course know very little about the sport for the disabled but they felt it important to acquire that specific knowledge, especially on training methods and communication. A large number of participants were not willing to work in the area of disabled sport. Most participants felt the achievements of disabled athletes incomparable to those of their able bodied mates. Conclusions: The principal question resulting from the study was how to spread the already achieved successes of the disabled athletes and to make them available to a wider audience.