‘It’s not about disability, I want to win as many medals as possible’: The social construction of disability in high-performance coaching

This book investigates the complex relationship between embodiment, identity and disability sport, based on ethnographic research with an international-level visually impaired cricket team. Alongside issues of empowerment, classification and valorisation, it conceptualises the sensuous dimension of being in disability sport and challenges the idealised notion of the sporting body. It explores the players’ lived experiences of participating and competing in an elite disabled sport culture and uses an embodied theoretical approach drawing upon sociology, phenomenology and contemporary disability theory to examine aspects of this previously unexamined research "site," both on and off the pitch. Written in a way that values and accurately represents the participants’ traditionally marginalised voices, the book analyses the role that elite disability sport plays in the construction of identity and helps us to better understand the relationships between disability, sport and wider society. Embodiment, Identity and Disability Sport is essential reading for any student, researcher, practitioner or policymaker working in disability sport, and a source of useful new perspectives for anybody with an interest in the sociology of sport or disability studies.

The Paralympic Games, a quadrennial global multi-sports competition for individuals with certain impairments, has increasingly become the focus of social scientific research. The aim of this paper is to explore the coexistence and subsequent tension between social interpretations of disability and elite sport as articulated in the context of the Paralympic Games. This is achieved through exploring members’ of the Paralympic community social perceptions of athletes involved in this elite disability sport competition. Empirical evidence suggests that Paralympic stakeholders possess a variety of opinions regarding the way in which sport and disability have been and should be articulated at the Paralympic Games. We use Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and capital to focus on the individual sportsperson’s body and the meanings derived and ascribed to it within the Paralympic Movement. In doing so, the authors develop the concept of the Paralympic paradox, which is a tension created by the representation of a Paralympian as either an impaired athlete or an athlete (with a disability). This concept is a useful tool in actively critiquing the images perpetuated in both mainstream and disability sports. In doing so, we are hopeful there will be a greater appreciation of elite disability sport on its own merits.

Disability sport is a relatively recent phenomenon, yet it is also one that, particularly in the context of social inclusion, is attracting increasing political and academic interest. The purpose of this important new text – the first of its kind – is to introduce the reader to key concepts in disability and disability sport and to examine the complex relationships between modern sport, disability and other aspects of wider society. Drawing upon original data from interviews, surveys and policy documents, the book examines how disability sport has developed and is currently organised, and explores key themes, issues and concepts including: disability theory and policy the emergence and development of disability sport disability sport development in local authorities mainstreaming disability sport disability, physical education and school sport elite disability sport and the Paralympic Games disability sport and the media.   Including chapter summaries, seminar questions and lists of key websites and further reading throughout, Sport, Disability and Society provides both an easy to follow introduction and a critical exploration of the key issues surrounding disability sport in the twenty-first century. This book is an invaluable resource for all students, researchers and professionals working in sport studies, disability studies, physical education, sociology and social policy. Nigel Thomas is Head of Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University, UK, where his research focuses on the history, mainstreaming, and media coverage of disability sport. He previously worked for ten years with young disabled people as a sports development officer in local authorities and national governing bodies. Andy Smith is Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise at the University of Chester, UK. He is a co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy, and a co-author of Sport Policy and Development: A Sociological Introduction, and An Introduction to Drugs in Sport: Addicted to Winning? Both books are published by Routledge (2009).

Background: The evaluative nature of high performance (HP) sport fosters performance expectations that can be associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity. In this context, (HP) sport is described as a highly competitive, complex, and turbulent work environment. The aim of this longitudinal, quantitative study was to explore whether HP coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity and job value incongruence in relation to work would predict their psychological well- and ill-being over time. Methods: HP coaches (n = 299) responded to an electronic questionnaire at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, designed to measure the following: job insecurity, values, psychological well-being (vitality and satisfaction with work), and psychological ill-being (exhaustion and cynicism). Structural equation model analyses were conducted using Mplus. Results: Experiencing higher levels of job insecurity during the middle of the season significantly predicted an increase in coaches’ psychological ill-being, and a decrease in their psychological well-being at the end of the season. However, value incongruence did not have a significant longitudinal impact. Conclusions: These findings cumulatively indicate that coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity matter to their psychological health at work. Consequently, it is recommended that coaches and organizations acknowledge and discuss how to handle job security within the HP sport context.

This paper examines the use of elite disability sport by the Chinese Government to promote disability sport and to establish a disability culture and social environment in the Republic of China from 1983 to 2012. Bearing in mind that earlier Chinese society did not perceive the international disability movement as an educational process, the paper begins with an interpretation of why elite disability sport received the government’s strong support when it was introduced to China, and considers its policies in the context of the government’s possible political motivations. It then examines the elite disability sport system in order to understand operational practices that were used to achieve success. It is concluded that the support of the government is the key to elite disability sport success. This was especially the case when the China Disabled Persons’ Federation underwent intensive development, maximizing the use of resources.

High-performance (HP) coaching has been described as “a complex, social, and dynamic activity that is not easily represented as a set of tangible and predictable processes.” Coaches are not only responsible for extensive planning, monitoring, and leadership in a dynamic and complex environment but also have responsibility for supporting athlete development and safeguarding their athletes’ overall health, well-being, and psychological and physiological safety. However, HP coaching is often considered an unsustainable profession, due to the levels of stress and subsequent mental health challenges that are frequently part of the role. Therefore, this position paper will focus on the concerns, challenges, and resources needed to prevent and manage mental ill-being and support the mental well-being of sport coaching professionals in HP sport, and provide recommendations for individuals, systems, and organizations that work with HP sport coaches.

This paper explores the embodied, gendered experiences of disabled horse‐riders. Drawing on data from five in‐depth interviews with paradressage riders, the ways in which their involvement in elite disability sport impacts upon their sense of identity and confidence are explored, as well as the considerable health and social benefits that this involvement brings. Social models of disability are employed and the shortcomings of such models, when applied to disability sport, are highlighted. The data presented here demonstrates the necessity of seeing disability sport as an embodied experience and acknowledging the importance of impairment to the experiences of disabled athletes. Living within an impaired body is also a gendered experience and the implications of this when applied to elite disability sport are considered.

In the last 10-20 years sport psychologists have started to emphasize the value of mental strengths such as self-confidence for disability sport athletes (Martin, 2012). The pinnacle of disability sport competition, the Paralympics, is becoming increasingly competitive, suggesting a strong need for athletes to possess effective mental skills. Like the Olympics there is intense pressure to win at the Paralympics. In the current review article I discuss the body of knowledge in sport psychology that focuses on potential direct and indirect determinants of performance in elite disability sport. The review is organized around a personnel developmental model used by Martin (1999, 2005, 2012). This model is a humanistic model and revolves around foundation qualities, psychological methods and skills, and facilitative and debilitative factors. The premise of the model is also similar to McCann's sentiment that “at the Olympics [Paralympics], everything is a performance issue” (2008, p. 267).

Reflexivity is continually called for as a marker of quality ethnographic research. In this paper we put reflexivity to ‘work’, providing a critical commentary on data generated through ethnographic fieldwork in high-performance disability sport. Drawing on Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology, we situate the ethnographer in the field of disability sport, turning a reflexive lens onto the practices that are associated with occupying the role of coach and researcher simultaneously. We illustrate the centrality of researcher subjectivity – through the reflexive device of ‘crossing fields’ – as a productive resource for examining the social and intellectual unconscious embedded in the process of doing ethnographic research. In so doing, we provide a unique example of how reflexive practice can offer a rigorous, power-conscious reading of an ethnography of high-performance coaching in disability sport.

ABSTRACTPurpose: Despite the recruitment of foreign sport coaches being a relatively long-standing phenomenon, there is limited research examining the experiences of foreign coaches working in globalised high-performance sport contexts. In examining how foreign coaches learn to perform their craft, we draw upon Billett’s [2006. ‘Relational Interdependence Between Social and Individual Agency in Work and Working Life.’ Mind, Culture, and Activity 13 (1): 53–69. doi:10.1207/s15327884mca1301_5] notion of relational interdependence, which embraces a work-based approach to understanding how migrant coaches learn. Specifically, this lens enables a broad consideration of the interdependent relationship between the foreign coach’s agency and the affordances of the host workplace.Method: A single case (embedded) research design was chosen through the purposeful sampling of a sport organisation. The case focused on the learning of Chinese migrant coaches employed within an Australian high-performance coaching workplace (henceforth referred to as the National Sport Organisation; NSO) and involved data collection from three foreign coaches, four athletes, and four administrators employed by the NSO. Through a multiple data collection method (i.e. 1 year of observation, 20 interviews, 1 focus group, and related document collection), information was collected regarding the coaches’ practices and learning. A theoretical thematic analysis guided the data analytic procedure with the assistance of MindNode software.Results and discussion: Several major themes were identified in relation to Chinese coaches’ learning and practices in the NSO. Overall, Chinese coaches met work requirements through substantial personal learning including aspects related to language (i.e. English), the development of culturally appropriate coaching practices, and enhancement of athletes’ training approach.Conclusion: The findings of this research might be generative for foreign coaches and those responsible for the recruitment, professional learning, and development of such coaches. The notion of relational interdependence was an appropriate theoretical lens for research related to the learning of foreign high-performance sport coaches.

Technological innovation has been shown to make meaningful impacts across several aspects of high-performance sport. Although the literature on technology adoption and implementation is vast, currently very little exists on the coach’s perspective in this regard. This investigation explored Canadian high-performance sport coaches and their relationship with technology adoption. Eleven coaches from both summer and winter National Sport Organizations were interviewed using a semistructured format. Three thematic categories were identified. First, intra- and interorganizational trust showed that coaches valued being aware and informed of any planned changes, and that educating them on technology adoption was important for gaining their participation. Second, coaches mentioned that they took the time to search for and build a fully functional technology, and valued collaboration among their peers for sharing technology-based knowledge. Finally, many of these high-performance coaches also depended upon their relationships to mentor coaches or other coaches in the field to identify and apply new technology. The outcome of this research may provide insight into shaping future policies to help sport coaches get access to the technology that more directly meets their needs.

The high-performance sports system is a rapidly evolving and increasingly important element of the Irish sporting landscape reflected in public policy, the direction and level of spending, and organisational/institutional evolution – all signalling a formal recognition of the high-performance sector as central to sport in Ireland. While certain aspects of high-performance sport in Ireland are beginning to be reflected in research (e.g., Guerin et al. 2008), this is yet to be extended to high performance coaching. The education, development, and support of coaches are key areas of the Coaching Strategy for Ireland (2008-2012). An understanding of high-performance coach activities and needs will become increasingly vital in underpinning the effectiveness of resources directed at high-performance coaching as Ireland seeks to reposition itself within the world’s elite in sport. The purpose of this article is to better understand the development of high-performance coaches in Ireland and the key influences on this (e.g., exposure to different coaching environments, sources of knowledge, and preferred ways of learning). It aims to explore what high-performance coaches believe has been most important in developing and fostering their coaching ‘know-how,’1 and what this may imply for future educational interventions for high-performance coaches. This article brings to light insights generated through semi-structured interviews with 10 high-performance coaches currently and/or recently working in Irish sport.

This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 13272 Computer Science in High Performance Sport - Applications and Implications for Professional Coaching. There were 25 presentations organized into 5 sessions over the course of three days focusing on various aspects on the relevance, applications and current issues pertaining to computer science in sport and it's applications for professional coaching. In each session were covered a miscellaneous of topics which looked at broad topics ranging from hardware devices for mobile coaching, modelling sports as dynamical systems, use of neural networks in performance analysis as well as theoretical issues in human movement science, and serious games. Once again the Dagstuhl seminar concept provided benefits for the experts from different fields and countries that otherwise would hardly meet and have the opportunity to exchange their ideas in an informal fashion way. Several ideas were presented to try to reduce the gap between sport science and high performance coaching and new projects were discussed among the participants, such as the agreement to build a data repository in order facilitate the collaboration between different institutions with common and complementary research topics or framework in performance analysis.

Executive Summary: The central research question of this study is to investigate if there is a case for the inclusion of adaptive sport in the NCAA. This study is important because of issues of equity, the sociocultural perceptions of disability and adaptive sport, the physical, social, psychological, and societal benefits of sport participation, and recent education and employment-population ratio statistics in the United States. Supporting this central question are five inquiries (the dependent variables of the study): What are the barriers and challenges for collegiate adaptive sport? What are the growth opportunities for collegiate adaptive sport? What are goals for the future of collegiate adaptive sport? What are integration strategies for collegiate adaptive sport in the NCAA? Is sport a major life activity? Based on the literature, four themes stand out regarding the advancement of collegiate adaptive sport. First, there are legal aspects such as Title IX, the Rehabilitation Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act that shape the current landscape of collegiate adaptive sports. Second, the greatest momentum for change in the NCAA could come from institutions and conferences taking a leadership role in championing change and pressuring the interdependent network of the NCAA. Third, the experience of females in collegiate athletics could be used to understand some of the challenges for adaptive sport and the top-down initiatives that could help the growth of adaptive sport. Fourth, the advancement of adaptive sport will require change in the current system and the critical change factor model by Fay (1999) can be used as a framework to understand what change factors could be effective. The research question was examined through qualitative interviews with stakeholder groups affiliated with the landscape of collegiate adaptive sport. These groups included collegiate adaptive sport athletes (A), collegiate adaptive sport staff (B), athletic department staff (C), and external organizations (e.g. national governing sport bodies) (D). The interviews were thematically analyzed to yield key themes and recommendations as they pertained to the dependent variables. There were 38 participants in the study with 3, 21, 8, and 6 people from groups A through D respectively. NCAA status for adaptive sport was found to be a desirable goal for the future and there are frameworks that can make it possible (e.g. the ECAC Inclusive Sport model). However, there must be a critical mass of adaptive sport athletes, a growth of and greater concentration of programming at the collegiate level and more purposeful and effective support from the top-down. Recommendations for how stakeholders could collaborate to grow adaptive sport at the collegiate level include: • Invest in K to 12 adaptive sport programming • Educate senior leaders of institutions and organizations about disability and adaptive sport • Create a resource guide for NCAA institutions for adaptive athlete recruitment and training • Develop an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program in the NCAA • Create a Senior Disability or Inclusion Administrator designation for athletic departments • Expand on the ECAC Inclusive Sport Principles 1 through 3 to other conferences • Implement able-body inclusion and consider coed teams in collegiate wheelchair basketball Recommendations for future research include examining effects of K-12 programming on participation levels in adaptive sport, adaptive athlete perceptions of able-body participation in adaptive sport, the appropriate number of sponsors for an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program, the qualitative and quantitative impact that collegiate adaptive sports programs have on their institutions, further research on sport as a major life activity, adaptive athlete experiences on coed teams, and key leader perceptions (e.g. Athletic Directors) of disability and adaptive sport.

Executive Summary: The central research question of this study is to investigate if there is a case for the inclusion of adaptive sport in the NCAA. This study is important because of issues of equity, the sociocultural perceptions of disability and adaptive sport, the physical, social, psychological, and societal benefits of sport participation, and recent education and employment-population ratio statistics in the United States. Supporting this central question are five inquiries (the dependent variables of the study): What are the barriers and challenges for collegiate adaptive sport? What are the growth opportunities for collegiate adaptive sport? What are goals for the future of collegiate adaptive sport? What are integration strategies for collegiate adaptive sport in the NCAA? Is sport a major life activity? Based on the literature, four themes stand out regarding the advancement of collegiate adaptive sport. First, there are legal aspects such as Title IX, the Rehabilitation Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act that shape the current landscape of collegiate adaptive sports. Second, the greatest momentum for change in the NCAA could come from institutions and conferences taking a leadership role in championing change and pressuring the interdependent network of the NCAA. Third, the experience of females in collegiate athletics could be used to understand some of the challenges for adaptive sport and the top-down initiatives that could help the growth of adaptive sport. Fourth, the advancement of adaptive sport will require change in the current system and the critical change factor model by Fay (1999) can be used as a framework to understand what change factors could be effective. The research question was examined through qualitative interviews with stakeholder groups affiliated with the landscape of collegiate adaptive sport. These groups included collegiate adaptive sport athletes (A), collegiate adaptive sport staff (B), athletic department staff (C), and external organizations (e.g. national governing sport bodies) (D). The interviews were thematically analyzed to yield key themes and recommendations as they pertained to the dependent variables. There were 38 participants in the study with 3, 21, 8, and 6 people from groups A through D respectively. NCAA status for adaptive sport was found to be a desirable goal for the future and there are frameworks that can make it possible (e.g. the ECAC Inclusive Sport model). However, there must be a critical mass of adaptive sport athletes, a growth of and greater concentration of programming at the collegiate level and more purposeful and effective support from the top-down. Recommendations for how stakeholders could collaborate to grow adaptive sport at the collegiate level include: • Invest in K to 12 adaptive sport programming • Educate senior leaders of institutions and organizations about disability and adaptive sport • Create a resource guide for NCAA institutions for adaptive athlete recruitment and training • Develop an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program in the NCAA • Create a Senior Disability or Inclusion Administrator designation for athletic departments • Expand on the ECAC Inclusive Sport Principles 1 through 3 to other conferences • Implement able-body inclusion and consider coed teams in collegiate wheelchair basketball Recommendations for future research include examining effects of K-12 programming on participation levels in adaptive sport, adaptive athlete perceptions of able-body participation in adaptive sport, the appropriate number of sponsors for an “Emerging Adaptive Sports” program, the qualitative and quantitative impact that collegiate adaptive sports programs have on their institutions, further research on sport as a major life activity, adaptive athlete experiences on coed teams, and key leader perceptions (e.g. Athletic Directors) of disability and adaptive sport.