Exploring stakeholder perspectives on All Abilities Touch Football: Navigating the challenges, opportunities and...

Area of Science:

• Disability Sport
• Sports Classification
• Inclusion and Equity

Background:

• All Abilities Touch Football offers organized sport for individuals with intellectual and/or physical impairments.
• Current lack of a comprehensive classification framework challenges equitable participation and fair competition.
• The study investigates challenges, opportunities, and feasibility of implementing a classification framework.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the broader challenges, opportunities, and feasibility of implementing a classification framework for All Abilities Touch Football.
• To identify barriers and facilitators for a more inclusive and structured approach to the sport's growth.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach combining online surveys and semi-structured interviews.
• Surveys included players, parents/carers, and coaches (n=66).
• Thematic analysis was applied to interview data from national-level coaches (n=4).

Main Results:

• All Abilities Touch Football effectively promotes physical activity, social integration, and community engagement.
• Systemic challenges include managing diverse player abilities, lack of stakeholder collaboration, inadequate education, and limited resources.
• These factors act as major barriers to the sport's advancement.

Conclusions:

• Findings provide insights into disability sport program complexities.
• Targeted strategies are needed to advance All Abilities Touch Football.
• The study lays groundwork for developing a more inclusive and structured sport.