The handicapped in sports

The first U.S.O.C. workshop on sports medicine for the handicaPped athlete led to several conclusions. First and foremost, the disabled athlete as an amateur athlete with a desire to participate must ever be uppermost in our minds, hearts, and planning. It appears that one of our chief objectives within the U.S.O.C. should be a central unifying force operating with joint support of the Sports Medicine Council and the Handicapped in Sports Committee, under the Sports Medicine Division. This arrangement will serve as an information and clearing center for the better understanding of each other and each organization of sports for the disabled athletes. We need to identify and classify for attention the common problems inherent among these groups and coordinate our various efforts. Fundamental to improvement in the application of sports medicine concepts is development of a definite plan for the education of voluntary coaches and trained or professionally prepared coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, and physicians. A variety of concurrent approaches are feasible with initiative and sharing of resources. An additional venture must be to begin pooling and computerizing our present and future information in this regard (professional articles and medical records) within the U.S.O.C. information retrieval system. This must be systematized so the pertinent information can then the disseminated and furnished nationwide to anyone or any group dealing with the disabled athlete in sports. Ultimately, our objective is to make this information available to all handicapped people.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)