Assessing the role of the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the provision and management of grassroots sport for disabled adults

© 2016 The Author(s).Legacies from hosting the Paralympic Games is an under-developed area. In a thematic analysis of Paralympic legacies, Misener et al. (2013) discovered few empirically researched studies focusing on legacies from the hosting of Paralympic Games. Of the forty-three sources of evidence included in their review, only eleven were identified as being of an empirical nature, with most focusing on the Sydney 2000 Paralympics and its tangible legacies. In addition, Mahtani et al. (2013)were unable to find any evidence for the Summer Paralympic Games and sport participation legacies. One of the legacy aims of the London 2012 Paralympic Games was to support disabled adults to participate in sport and physical activity (Office for Disability Issues 2011). The 2012 Paralympics was undoubtedly a success as a sporting event, but, as we approach the Rio 2016 Paralympics, what reflections can be made regarding the 2012 Paralympics grassroots sport participation legacy for disabled adults in England? How successful has the Paralympics been in providing opportunities to participate in sport, four years on from the Games? To aid our understanding of this under-researched area and of the grassroots sport participation legacy from London 2012, this researchaims to answer the following question:How has the grassroots sport participation legacy of the 2012 Paralympic Games been managed? The data presented in this study represents preliminary findings and is sub-set of a wider study and PhD. The views of senior managers from NDSOs, regarding the impact and management of the grassroots sport participation legacy for disabled adults in England,will be the focus of this study. Supplementing the views of the NDSOs, this study will also report on secondary quantitative data which enhances our understanding of the impact of the 2012 Paralympic Games on the grassroots sport participation of disabled adults in England. Two national sport organisations and five of the eight NDSOs have so far been interviewed and will be the source of the qualitative data for this research. Preliminary results suggest the level of demand for sport after the Paralympics was greater than anticipated, with sport providers not being able to respond efficiently to the demand. There was also a lack of leveraging, issues with funding, and difficulties engaging with National Governing Bodies (NGBs). This study is still on-going and, when finalised, will also include the views of selected NGBs, County Sport Partnerships, and national sport organisations. The results of this study will represent the views of different stakeholder organisations involved in the delivery and management of grassroots disability sport in England, building our understanding of the 2012 Paralympic grassroots sport participation legacy for disabled adults.Non peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Inclusion through Sport: A Critical View on Paralympic Legacy from a Historical Perspective

Through its commitment to universalism, the inclusion of disabled people has become an increasingly prominent objective of the Paralympic Games. To achieve this, the organisers rely on the notion of legacy, which refers to the expected effects of major sporting events on host countries. This notion was initially founded on material aspects and then took an interest in certain intangible sides that were spotted within the organiser’s goals and studied in literature. Building on the historical literature about the Paralympic movement’s institutionalization, this article shows that this institutionalization took place in a context of tension between disabled communities, depending on their proximity to the Olympic model. What is the impact of this historical legacy in terms of inclusion of the greater number? By shedding light on the historical perspective of the obstacles encountered in the creation of an ‘all-disabilities’ sporting event, this article aims to discuss and challenge the current perspective on the inclusive legacy of the Paralympic Games

Effect of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in Increasing Pain Tolerance and Improving the Mental Health of Injured Athletes.

Literature indicates that injured athletes face both physical and psychological distress after they have been injured. In this study, a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was utilised as an intervention for use during the period of recovery with injured athletes and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using MBSR as an intervention for this purpose. Objective: The aim of this research was to investigate the role of MBSR practise in reducing the perception of pain and decreasing anxiety/stress, as well as increasing pain tolerance and mindfulness. An additional aim was to increase positive mood and decrease negative mood in injured athletes. Methods: The participants comprised of twenty athletes (male = 14; female = 6; age range = 21-36 years) who had severe injuries, preventing their participation in sport for more than 3 months. Prior to their injury, the participants had trained regularly with their University teams and participated in official university championships. Both groups followed their normal physiotherapy treatment, but in addition, the intervention group practised mindfulness meditation for 8 weeks (one 90-min session/week). A Cold Pressor Test (CPT) was used to assess pain tolerance. In contrast, the perception of pain was measured using a Visual Analogue Scale. Other measurements used were the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), and Profile of Mood States (POMS). Results: Our results demonstrated an increase in pain tolerance for the intervention group and an increase in mindful awareness for injured athletes. Moreover, our findings observed a promising change in positive mood for both groups. Regarding the Stress/Anxiety scores, our findings showed a notable decrease across sessions; however, no significant changes were observed in other main and interaction effects in both groups. Conclusion: Injured athletes can benefit from using mindfulness as part of the sport rehabilitation process to increase their pain tolerance and awareness. Further research is required to assess whether increasing pain tolerance could help in the therapeutic process

A case study investigating the impact of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on participation in two non-traditional English sports, Judo and Fencing.

The hosting of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOPG) brought with it detailed legacy plans aiming to ‘Inspire a Generation’. The idea that hosting a sports mega-event will encourage the host population to engage in more physical activity is commonly used by governments to justify the large investments they make. The aim of this research paper was to investigate the impact that hosting the 2012 Games had on grass-root sports participation within the host nation. This paper focuses on two non-traditional English sports, Fencing and Judo and investigated the changes in mass sports participation. The membership rate analysis of our sample highlighted an overall increase in participation between 2007 and 2013, in both Judo and Fencing. The data gathered from the interviews with the head office staff at the National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and local club coaches suggested that the grass-root participation programmes were the most effective way of increasing participation, rather than the reliance, solely on the inspiration effect from hosting the LOPG itself. The study highlighted the importance of strengthening communication between local voluntary clubs and the NGB, to ensure sports could promote themselves and capitalise on this global sporting phenomenon, which provided unprecedented media coverage and opportunities for these non-traditional sports. This case study provides initial results relating to the effect that a major international multi-sport event can have in the development of non-traditional sports in the host population, in terms of membership variations, participation programmes and organisational dynamics

Construire et assurer l’héritage des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques. Pour une inclusion sportive durable des personnes vivant des situations de handicap = Build and ensure the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Towards a sustainable sports inclusion of disabled people

Mobiliser les Jeux olympiques et paralympiques pour construire une société plus inclusive et solidaire est au cœur du projet 'Paris 2024'. À ce titre, améliorer la visibilité et la participation sportive des personnes handicapées est une ambition forte de l’héritage de Jeux paralympiques. Cet article a pour objectif de faire un bilan des travaux de recherche portant sur les héritages des Jeux paralympiques passés afin de pouvoir penser la construction de l’héritage de Paris 2024 en matière d’inclusion des personnes handicapées. Nous nous centrerons plus spécifiquement sur trois dimensions de cet héritage : la mise en image et la visibilité des sportifs paralympiques, l’effet 'levier' des Jeux paralympiques sur la participation sportive de masse et sa coordination, et enfin l’accès à la pratique sportive de haut niveau des personnes handicapées. Using the Olympic and Paralympic Games to build a more inclusive and inclusive society is at the heart of the “Paris 2024” project. Improving the visibility and sporting participation of disabled people is a strong ambition of the legacy of the Paralympic Games. The purpose of this article is to review research on the legacies of past Paralympic Games in order to consider the construction of the Paris 2024 legacy in terms of the inclusion of disabled people. We will focus more specifically on three dimensions of this heritage: the staging and the visibility of Paralympic athletes, the “leverage” effect of the Paralympic Games on sport participation and its coordination, and finally access to high-level sport for disabled people

Quality of the Physical Education Teacher's Instruction in the Perspective of Self-Determination.

The teacher's instructions in physical education class have important implications for the psychological well-being of their students. The aim of this study was to analyze, under the postulates of the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), a model with the following sequence: the perception of the quality of the instructions (task presentation, amount of corrective feedback, and its legitimate perception) generated by the physical education teacher, the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs and the subjective vitality in young students. The participants were 890 students (462 males and 428 females) of primary level from the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Mexico, between ages 11 and 13 (M = 11.36; SD = 0.49). The structural equation modeling showed positive and significant associations in all model interrelations, that is, task presentation and the amount of corrective feedback (B = 0.88, p < 0.001), and this in turn with legitimate perception (B = 0.81, p < 0.001); the legitimate perception of feedback and the satisfaction of the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness (B = 0.63, p < 0.001; B = 0.90, p < 0.001; B = 1.01, p < 0.001, respectively); finally, the satisfaction of the three psychological needs and the subjective vitality (B = 0.12, p < 0.01; B = 0.43, p < 0.001; B = 0.24, p < 0.001, respectively). Therefore, the importance of a quality task presentation, as well as providing corrective feedback based on support for autonomy, is evident, so that students perceive it legitimately and thus facilitate the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs and in consequence, indicators of psychological well-being such as subjective vitality

Leveraging the sport participation legacy of the London 2012 Olympics: Senior managers’ perceptions

The purpose of this study was to understand how a sports mega event (SME) was leveraged to try and increase participation, through the investigation of national governing bodies (NGBs) opinions and atti- tudes. Critical realism (CR) was used as a tool to aid understanding of leveraging and legacy conceptualisation, through an empirical investiga- tion. An extensive, mixed method online survey was conducted post London 2012 with senior staff members of NGBs, the main delivery agent chosen to support the participation initiatives associated with the London 2012 Olympics. This research provides valuable findings surrounding the use of CR as a tool to investigate legacy creation, whilst at the same time offering insights to enhance the policy implementation process within the sports development sector. The importance of com- munication, competitive nature of sports system, media, club engage- ment, organisational capacity and monitoring and evaluation were highlighted, which provided useful insights into the multidimensional constructs that can aid future leveraging strategies prior to hosting SMEs

The organisational performance of National Disability Sport Organisations during a time of austerity: A resource dependence theory perspective

Austerity measures implemented by the UK Coalition government have had a negative impact on disabled people (Cross 2013). This article utilises the resource dependence theory to explore the challenges national disability sport organisations (NDSOs) have faced in their attempts to achieve growth, whilst discussing some of the tactics used to overcome these challenges. Secondary quantitative data from the 2011-2015 NDSO accounts was analysed, which suggests increased income has been accompanied by increased cost, with fluctuations between surpluses and deficits across the financial years. Funding from Sport England, the government body for grassroots sport in England, was either awarded for the first time or increased. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with senior managers from seven NDSOs, the English Federation of Disability Sport, and Sport England. It was found austerity presented challenges for the NDSOs in accessing charitable grants and funding, and that some disabled people were fearful of losing their disability benefits if they were seen to be active. The management of relationships with national governing bodies and county sport partnerships was also a challenge. The formation of alliances, the building up of financial reserves, and the generation of knowledge, have been some of the tactics used by the NDSOs in the management of their resources. This research highlights how some NDSOs have achieved growth amid an uncertain economic backdrop, and how these organisations have managed their scarce resources