'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs

© 2017 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. The last two decades within Australia have witnessed a range of policies and strategies seeking to promote the inclusion of young people with disabilities within mainstream community sport clubs. Whilst research at an institutional le...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jeanes, R., Spaaij, R., Magee, J., Farquharson, K., Gorman, Sean, Lusher, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61968
_version_ 1848760760765775872
author Jeanes, R.
Spaaij, R.
Magee, J.
Farquharson, K.
Gorman, Sean
Lusher, D.
author_facet Jeanes, R.
Spaaij, R.
Magee, J.
Farquharson, K.
Gorman, Sean
Lusher, D.
author_sort Jeanes, R.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2017 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. The last two decades within Australia have witnessed a range of policies and strategies seeking to promote the inclusion of young people with disabilities within mainstream community sport clubs. Whilst research at an institutional level has highlighted the problems with mainstreaming agendas, few researchers have examined how grassroots clubs, as key components of the supply side of inclusive provision seek to respond to such policy imperatives. In this paper, therefore, the authors provides a critical analysis of the ways in which clubs engage with inclusion policies in practice. Theoretically, the authors draws on the concept of policy enactment and educational inclusivity. Through analysis of semi-structured interviews with club volunteers, the findings illustrate three key areas. Firstly, the importance of individual volunteers in establishing and developing provision within clubs; secondly, the largely separatist nature of disability provision within clubs; and thirdly, that policies tend to encourage clubs to focus on narrow forms of participation that lead to competitive pathways and mirror the structure of mainstream sport. In the conclusion, the authors problematize the notion of inclusion presented in policy and practice, suggesting such imperatives do not encourage a holistic approach.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:20:54Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-61968
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:20:54Z
publishDate 2017
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-619682018-02-01T05:56:16Z 'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs Jeanes, R. Spaaij, R. Magee, J. Farquharson, K. Gorman, Sean Lusher, D. © 2017 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. The last two decades within Australia have witnessed a range of policies and strategies seeking to promote the inclusion of young people with disabilities within mainstream community sport clubs. Whilst research at an institutional level has highlighted the problems with mainstreaming agendas, few researchers have examined how grassroots clubs, as key components of the supply side of inclusive provision seek to respond to such policy imperatives. In this paper, therefore, the authors provides a critical analysis of the ways in which clubs engage with inclusion policies in practice. Theoretically, the authors draws on the concept of policy enactment and educational inclusivity. Through analysis of semi-structured interviews with club volunteers, the findings illustrate three key areas. Firstly, the importance of individual volunteers in establishing and developing provision within clubs; secondly, the largely separatist nature of disability provision within clubs; and thirdly, that policies tend to encourage clubs to focus on narrow forms of participation that lead to competitive pathways and mirror the structure of mainstream sport. In the conclusion, the authors problematize the notion of inclusion presented in policy and practice, suggesting such imperatives do not encourage a holistic approach. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61968 10.1016/j.smr.2017.04.001 restricted
spellingShingle Jeanes, R.
Spaaij, R.
Magee, J.
Farquharson, K.
Gorman, Sean
Lusher, D.
'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs
title 'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs
title_full 'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs
title_fullStr 'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs
title_full_unstemmed 'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs
title_short 'Yes we are inclusive': Examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs
title_sort 'yes we are inclusive': examining provision for young people with disabilities in community sport clubs
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61968