Abstract
There are well-established links between successful athlete development, retention and high-quality coaching. Such links between athletes and coaches are also pertinent in disability sports. However, there is limited knowledge around coaching and coaches’ needs and barriers in disability sport. To bridge this gap, a self-narrative approach was employed covering a 5-year period of the first author’s career of coaching Blind (B1) and Visually Impaired (VI) football. This personal account provides a narrative, which identifies a range of key issues around the challenges of coaching practice in adapted football. Personal stories are presented through realist tales, which are grounded in the first author’s lived experiences. Particular attention is paid to infrastructural challenges, which are evident in VI/Blind football. Based on the narratives presented, we reflect on the field-specific issues in B1 and VI football and make recommendations for practitioners.
Highlights
It is estimated that there are between 13.3 and 13.9 million disabled people in the United Kingdom (UK), which equates to 22% or one in five of the country’s population at an annual care cost of £2.1 billion (Disability Living Foundation, 2019; Papworth Trust, 2019; Scope, 2019)
Some of the above-outlined challenges we explore through the first author’s experience in coaching Visually Impaired (VI)/Blind football below
We used the first author’s personal experience in VI/Blind football to highlight some of the key challenges he faced at the early stages of his coaching career in disability sport
Summary
It is estimated that there are between 13.3 and 13.9 million disabled people in the United Kingdom (UK), which equates to 22% or one in five of the country’s population at an annual care cost of £2.1 billion (Disability Living Foundation, 2019; Papworth Trust, 2019; Scope, 2019). There are training skills and knowledge that are specific to coaching athletes with a disability, such as: recognising needs for biomechanical adaptations as suggested by Giagazoglou, Katis, Kellis & Natsikas (2011) who found significant kinematic differences in kicking actions between blind and sighted players.
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