The Concept of Sports Development in Relation to Disabled Sports - Research Paper Example

 The activity of sport has been and will continue to be an integral component of societies all over the world. Although people indulge in various physical and mental activities as part of their daily lifestyle, in certain occasions, those activities are carried out in a particular setting following preset rules which only constitute sports. Sport ‘enters’ people’s lives in their childhood as part of their pleasure activities, and continues to ‘play’ some role or other in their adulthood as well. While majority of the adults watch sports and play occasionally, only minority of the people take sports as their profession. To aid all the people to play sport, favorable and optimal environment has to be actualized in a widespread manner. This is where the Sports Development comes into the picture, as its’ role is to actualize various infrastructures, opportunities, processes, etc., thereby enabling all people, without any differentiation, to play sports. Without any differentiation in the sense, sizable number of physically and mentally disabled people will also wish to play some sports, and here also sports development can aid. Taking a sports development perspective, this paper will critically discuss the various barriers faced by the disabled people when they wish to participate in sports activities, as well as the constructive steps taken by the government and non-governmental entities, particularly the local authorities, to facilitate the disabled people to play sports. Sports Development Sports development is a broad term, which can be used to refer to a wide variety of sports related activities carried out by government and non-governmental players to encourage sport. However, there are still some ambiguities regarding its actual roles, purposes, and whether it is a government policy or organized actions, or a combination of both. “It is unclear whether it is best defined as a concept, a government policy, or simply by the work being done by the growing ranks of workers in sports development, or indeed by some combination of the three” (Houlihan and White 2002, p.2). The origins of the term, Sports Development dates back to 1965, when the Sports Council was established by the British government as an advisory body. Actually, “Sports Development Council” was the original name that was proposed to that advisory body, whose role was to come up with policies for the development of sports activities among the people. Thus, any activity which encourages people to play more sports came to be known as sports development. Collins (2009, p.4) defines sports development as “a process whereby effective opportunities, processes, systems and structures are set up to enable and encourage people in all or particular groups and areas to take part in sport and recreation or to improve their performance to whatever level they desire”. Although, this facilitating and encouraging role is normally played by the government bodies and officials, along with government authorized sports associations, nowadays more non-governmental and non-sports bodies and its personnel are also taking the role of Sports Development practitioners. This is because sports development is “normally at the margin of the government's field of vision”, and only few times in the last twenty years that sports development was given prominence by the central government, like during the urban riots in the early 1980s and during the “brief period of office of John Major, an enthusiast for sport”. (Houlihan and White, 2002, p.2). However, even the sports development initiatives of non-governmental organizations are not foolproof and sports focused, as they might have other non-sport motivations. Although these non-sport motivations are creditable, it deviates from sports needs. (Collins, 2010). Thus, sports development as a government policy or even as a constructive activity by private parties does not function aptly, and this is particularly visible in disability sports. Disability and sports Physical and mental disabilities caused by natural causes and by other man-made causes are a common occurrence through the world. In the United Kingdom, there are over 10 million disabled people, out of whom around 6.9 million disabled people are in the working age or in the ‘age of activity’, which may be below the age of 50. (Bell and Heitmueller, 2005). In the last few decades, the quality of life of the disabled people has been positive, because of the advancements in the health or medical sector, enabling them to move out and utilize opportunities in the fields of education and employment. In addition, the political and social actions instigated by the disability activists and other human rights advocates have also heightened the need to provide apt facilities and opportunities. (Fitzgerald, 2009). Thus, many improvements positively impact disabled people’s lives, including heightened opportunities in the sports ‘field’. Still, disabled people do not get complete encouragement and opportunities to play sports, as various personal, social and also government related obstacles impede their wishes. In the UK, disabled people have some of the lowest participation rates in sports, with the 2007 data from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport stating that “only 8.8-9.5% of disabled adults are involved in regular moderate activity compared to the popular average of 21%.” (Samba). Many reasons contribute to this negative picture including personal reasons, physical restrictions, social impediments, etc. Speaking about physical restrictions, accessibility to the sports fields and venues has been a key concern. Even entering it could be a difficult task because of the absence of ramps, suitable doors, elevators, etc. As constructing or even modifying the buildings for the disabled people can be an expensive affair, most buildings lack correct access (Collings, 2010). Although, the public profile of the disability sports has accentuated in current times due to the success of number of British Paralympic athletes, more media exposure is still needed. Disability sports are not popular like other sports and so there is less media coverage, and if said differently, disability sports are not popular because media does not cover it. So, the bottom line is, due to less media coverage, the disability sports are not being witnessed by large sections of population, particularly the target segment of disabled population. Thus, there are no role models for them to emulate. “If there are many more sporting role models for the disabled, such as Tanni Grey Thompson and Ade Adepitan, they will be encouraged to participate more and aspire to be more like them.” (Collings, 2010). Role of government entities from sports development perspective In the positive direction, many steps have been initiated and are being initiated by the government to facilitate an optimum environment for the disabled people to play various sports. One of the key policy changes in the UK which acted as a catalyst for the betterment of disabled people was the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). The act came into force in 1996 and got further strengthened due to a series of amendments passed in 2005. DDA was actualized to remove the obstacles faced by the disabled people in the British society, and thereby provide more or equal opportunities for the disabled to live a contented life. This is particularly applicable in the field of sports, as the act stipulated that authorities in line with the sports development policies should provide apt infrastructures, systems, processes, etc, so the disabled people can participate in any disabled sports of their choice, for recreation and also as a professional choice (under certain rules and regulations). Thus, the Act stated that “it was unlawful for a service provider (including sports development providers) to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide (or deliberately not providing) any service which it provides to its members of the public” (Houlihan and Green, 2011, p.89). In addition, the act stipulated that private clubs (like the sports clubs having 25 or more members) should not exclude any disabled people from becoming member of the club and indulging in sports activities, solely on the basis of their disability. The act also placed greater emphasis on the public sports bodies and crucially various local authorities to provide equal opportunities for the disabled people in line with the sports development policies. Many of the long-established disability sports bodies and local sports authorities appear to have moved “away from a medicalised definition of disability”, and have begun to “lobby more effectively for a share of sports development resources”. (Houlihan and White, 2002, p.209). As local authorities function at the grass-roots level and will have direct contact with the disabled people, they play major roles in facilitating environment for the disabled to play sports. Only if the disabled people coming out of the confines of their homes first reach the sports venues in their localities, interest and confidence will develop in them. For that, local authorities in line with sports development policies have been implementing various measures like removing the physical barriers, providing sports equipments, organizing sports events exclusively for the disabled, etc. This role of local authorities was further reinforced by Houlihan and White (2002, p.209), who stated that local authorities have more experience of developing equity-based policies and act as the “key policy actors in the promotion of sports development activity in relation to sports participation” by the disabled. Role of local authorities from sports development perspective – A critical discussion From the above discussion, it is clear that when viewed from sports development perspective, local authorities play or have to play an optimal role for facilitating sports among the disabled. In that direction, the local authorities have incorporated or had to firmly incorporate disability sports related provisions both in its current, as well as in future policies. This incorporation is the first key step because once that is done; the local bodies will become accountable to implement it on the ‘ground’. This was pointed out by Thomas and Smith (2009, p.52) who stated that it was not only the delivery of sports services by local authorities to disabled people in local communities that was seen as important, in addition, “the sporting needs of disabled people should be clearly articulated in, the wider policies and priorities of local councils”. Although, the central government and the national bodies has to play a key role in the overall policy formulation for the disability sports, it was recommended by many expert panels and review groups that diversification has to take place, giving maximal roles to the local authorities (Spracklen, Hylton and Long, 2006). It was recommended that the Sports Council should diversify and work with sports governing bodies at the local level “to promote participation and equity for disabled people.” (Thomas and Smith 2009, p.55). Although this step has a logical and effective strategy to encourage disabled people to participate in sports, there are certain inconsistencies. These inconsistencies, along with previously pointed out common barriers, make disabled people’s participation in sports a challenging affair. Thomas and Smith (2009) carried out a series of case studies among three local authorities in England regarding provisions for disability sports. At the end of their study, Thomas and Smith (2009) opined that, although there are some similarities in the ways the local authorities function and contribute to disability sports, most of the time, there are inconsistencies. That is, some local authorities, as part of the alleged need to become more 'socially inclusive', have established disability sports development plans and are creating “opportunities for the disabled people to engage in a variety of sports and activities at recreational and more competitive levels.” (Houlihan and Green, 2011, p.95). However, other local authorities are not organizing and promoting disability sports in a widespread manner. Thomas and Smith (2009, p.52) state that while some local authorities, 'pursue their obligations with diligence, imagination and generosity', others were regarded as doing 'little more than pay lip-service to the needs of disabled people”. Conclusion From the above analysis of the concept or policy of sports development in relation to disabled sports, it is clear that although favorable environment are being created for the disabled to participate in sports primarily by the local authorities, still there are inadequacies. As discussed above, sports development is a broad term which can be used to refer to the wide range of activities carried out to facilitate environment for the people to play sports. This is particularly applicable to the disabled population who faces various impediments in the quest to live a normal life. Even if the disabled people break their personal shackles, come out and want to play sports, certain sports related obstacles further impede them. Although, the central government, private entities and particularly local authorities have taken and are continuing to take constructive steps, it is not a favorable picture everywhere. Logically, local authorities as part of sports development policies are playing a major role in facilitating disabled sports. However, some inconsistencies are still there and so those things have to be optimally managed for the betterment of disabled people’s lives. References Bell, D. and Heitmueller, D., 2005. The Disability Discrimination Act in the UK: Helping or Hindering Employment Amongst the Disabled? Discussion Paper No. 1476. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn. Collins, M., 2009. Examining Sports Development, Routledge, New York. Collins, M., 2010. “From ‘sport for good’ to ‘sport for sport’s sake’ – not a good move for sports development in England?” International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 367-379. Collings, R., 2010. Barriers Affecting Disabled People in Sport Today, [Online] Available at http://voices.yahoo.com/barriers-affecting-disabled-people-sport-today-5419599.html?cat=5 [Accessed February 23, 2012] Fitzgerald, H., 2009. Disability and Youth Sport, Routledge, New York. Houlihan, B. and Green, M., 2011. Routledge Handbook of Sports Development, Routledge, New York. Houlihan, B. and White, A., 2002. The politics of sports development: development of sport or development through sport? Routledge, New York. Samba, A. Why is the standard of Disability Sports activities still lagging behind? [Online] Available at http://www.disabledinfo.co.uk/dis/2073-why-is-the-standard-of-disability-sports-activitie.asp [Accessed February 23, 2012] Spracklen, K., Hylton, K. and Long, J.,2006. “Managing and Monitoring Equality and Diversity in UK Sport”, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 289-305. Thomas, N. and Smith, A., 2009. Disability, sport, and society: an introduction, Routledge, New York. Read More