Talent identification and development in elite youth disability sport

The paper examines the talent identification and development process in three youth disability sports: wheelchair basketball, Boccia and disability tennis. The analysis is concerned to explore the extent of convergence in processes between disability sports and between disability and mainstream sports. The analytical framework adopted identifies seven dimensions along which convergence can be assessed and is used in conjunction with a typology of levels of policy change. The data for the analysis were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The main findings included evidence of convergence between disability sports and between the three disability sports and mainstream sports especially in relation to: motives; agendas and aspirations; and contextualizing discourse/ideology/values. There was also evidence of policy change at all three levels identified by Hall