Abstract
Abstract Aim: Through reports of the athletes with disabilities interviewed, this study aimed to understand how the experiences lived in mainstream sports occur among people without disabilities. Methods: Husserl's classic phenomenology was the methodological framework adopted. The phenomenological interview was carried out with an intentional sample that included six athletes with some type of physical disability and later its recording was transcribed for the procedures of phenomenological reduction and intentional crossing to explain the meaning of what is experienced by these athletes in mainstream sport. Results: Five categories essentially describe how these experiences occur: operational body barred in the world; shaping the movement; the invisibility of disability; determination stimulus; and normalization of social relations in mainstream sports. These experiences correspond to a dynamic process in which each part does not necessarily follow the other. Conclusion: The experience in mainstream sports allowed the interviewees to improve their experience of capacity, self-efficacy, and recognition through the mutuality between self-perception and the expectation of acceptance by society.
Highlights
The present study is the result of the concern felt by one of the researchers for living and playing sports over the years among people with physical disabilities, in a context in which there is no adaptation to the rules
We examine through first-person reports, how the experiences of athletes with physical disabilities in integrated participation with people without disabilities in mainstream sports occur
The initial analysis of the interviews consisted of identifying the significant sporting experiences, as well as understanding the dynamics of the experiences lived by these athletes with disabilities in mainstream sports
Summary
The present study is the result of the concern felt by one of the researchers for living and playing sports over the years among people with physical disabilities, in a context in which there is no adaptation to the rules. When perceiving the positive view of disability, as a new organization with its laws, a novel way of being in the world with its values[2], at each training session or competition, this excess of care and fear of injuring players with disabilities seem to tend to oblivion. Comprehending the differences between integrating and including are important for a better understanding of the dynamics of participation of athletes with disabilities in mainstream sports. Whereas people with disabilities adapt their condition to mainstream sport, sports for people with disabilities have their adaptations designed according to the athlete's disability condition
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