Attitude of elite tennis coaches working with athletes with intellectual disabilities participating in Special Olympics

There is a paucity of research regarding the attitudes of coaches towards training athletes with intellectual disabilities (ID). This is particularly evident for coaches working with athletes with ID that are competing in the innovative Special Olympics (SO) Unified Sports programme. Research on the inclusive impact of sport plays a significant role, not only in sports development but also in the training of sports professionals and coaches, as a sufficient amount of special coaching experience is required to achieve inclusion. For this reason, this study was conducted among professionals coaching tennis with athletes with ID. The purpose of this study was to analyse the attitudes of tennis coaches working with athletes with ID in the SO tennis programme.

The study was conducted on a sample of internationally recognised elite tennis coaches (n = 78) working with tennis players with ID at two international tennis competitions. A questionnaire and a structured interview were conducted with the coaches to examine the sociometric characteristics of the coaches involved in the research. Findings were then compared with views on professional statements for similarities and differences in their attitudes towards their athletes and their work.

Results indicated that coaches felt the most important criteria for a coach working successfully with athletes with ID were (1) a wide range of knowledge, (2) professional expertise, (3) social sensitivity, (4) positive attitude and (5) motivation. Results supported the existing theoretical findings that besides professional expertise and experience, a basic knowledge about disability is needed among coaches working with athletes with ID.

This research was unique in the international scene, in that, although the number of tennis coaches working within the movement of SO is relatively high, to this date, no scientific survey has been focused on them.