Experiences of female adolescents in a multi-sport parasport program

A key barrier influencing disparities in sport participation for adolescents that experience disability is a lack of available meaningful and appropriate programmes. What makes a programme meaningful or appropriate for an individual is determined by that person’s unique views and experiences in sport. Therefore, it is critical to explore sport experiences from participants’ own perspectives. The purpose of this exploratory study was to describe the perspectives of participants on (1) their experiences in an introductory parasport programme, (2) the factors that influenced their engagement in the programme, and (3) how participating impacted them. Three adolescent girls who had previously participated in an introductory parasport programme took part in semi-structured interviews; inductive thematic analysis was used to explore the meaning of adolescents’ parasport experiences. Results indicated that participants’ experiences were influenced by the para-specific design of the programme, the coaches present, novel opportunities afforded by the programme, and difficulty progressing onto further parasport development. High-quality experiences supported physical and social development, improvements in self-perceptions, and continued sport aspirations. This exploratory study found that engagement in the parasport programme was enjoyable, with opportunities to socialise and develop sport skills, with their personal development and enjoyment being closely tied to perceptions of the physical and social environment, as well as programme activities.