Sport and Recreation Inclusion for People with Disabilities

Governments across the globe are increasingly recognising the benefits of sports participation as a central means to promote social inclusion and community cohesion. Community sport and recreation inclusion has gained considerable attention in line with this policy directive over recent years. There has been extensive government investment in community sports and recreation programs as a means to build social cohesion between diverse groups within the community, particularly for marginalised groups. For example, within the EU, there have been significant policy research efforts that have placed sport and community recreation as pivotal to promoting community inclusion for a range of diverse groups. Focus has largely been on marginalised groups such as young ethnic minority men and women but increasingly for people with disabilities. The research: In line with this focus and the promotion of community inclusion for a diverse group, in 2012 the Centre for Sport and Recreation Research (CSRR), with research partner Inclusion WA, undertook a collaborative research project aimed at identifying barriers and opportunities for inclusion of people with disabilities in sporting and recreational activities. The purpose was to inform Inclusion WA’s future decision-making related to determining: What support clubs need in order to be more inclusive of people with disabilities; and What support people with disabilities need to be able to successfully join ‘mainstream’ clubs. A mixed methodology was used to ascertain the specific views of three target groups for this qualitative study. Data collection was undertaken with the following groups of participants: 1. People with intellectual disabilities who receive facilitation services from Inclusion WA through their Community Inclusion Program; 2. Representatives of mainstream sporting clubs1 and recreation services that Inclusion WA were either: a) working with to develop inclusive practices; or b) wished to work with in the near future; and 3. Inclusion WA staff members employed in various roles within the organisation. Findings: Barriers and opportunities for inclusion have been identified by the three participant groups, some of which were already known based on previous research, and others which have identified areas of improvement in inclusionary practice for both Inclusion WA and mainstream sporting clubs