The SPORTS Participation Framework: illuminating the pathway for people with disability to enter into, participate in, and excel at sport

Background

Sports participation for people with disabilities exists at the intersection of health, sport, and education sectors. However, no common framework and language exist to describe the stages of sports participation.

Objective

To present the background to the SPORTS Participation Framework, and how it can be used to illuminate the path that people with disability may travel to enter into, participate in, and enjoy and excel at all levels of sport.

Method

The SPORTS Participation Framework includes six stages drawn from mainstream sports pathways and models used to classify barriers to sports participation for people with disabilities: (S) Screening, goal setting and individual preparation, (P) Practitioner led, peer-group sports interventions, (O) Organised junior entry-point sports programs, (R) Recreational sport (non-competitive), (T) Team competition (school/club representation), and (S) State, National, and International competition.

Results

For each stage, this paper describes the content of sports activities, the context in which they are performed, key stakeholders, barriers to participation, available evidence, and case studies.

Conclusions

The SPORTS Participation Framework presents a structure to navigate the stages of introducing and promoting lifelong sports participation for people with disabilities. It scaffolds clear communication, governance, and policy across health, sport, and education sectors, and supports clinicians and researchers to address barriers to participation at each stage to improve individual and population-wide participation in sport for people with disabilities.