INTERVIEW
GB were second on the medal table in 2008
because they create the inspiration – the stardust – and that allows us to engage in other things. “It’s about inspiring change, primarily
around sport – the accessibility and the availability of sport for all, and to chal- lenge the broader section of our society about behaving differently towards dis- ability,” he says.
MAKING A VISION A REALITY When asked how he plans to go about making these ambitious changes, Hol- lingsworth says that first and foremost the BPA’s role is to ensure plenty of Brit- ish medal success at this year’s Games because “people will have their eyes opened to the concept of disability being challenged”. “Our primary purpose is to dem-
onstrate that our athletes are high achieving and world-class in what they do. The inspirational impact of that is less tangible, but we’re working with those organisations that are responsible for increasing participation levels to, first of all, help people with a physical impairment to realise that they can get involved in sport. “This then leads onto social change.
It’s about recognising that there are few better ways to cut through to wider society views around disability than the Paralympics. We need to make sure that this spotlight is effective in changing
Seven-a-side football debuted at the Paralympic World Cup in 2010 (Paralympics GB are in red)
perceptions. We want people not to start with sympathy but to say ‘Wow that’s a fantastic sporting achievement’. “Once people have established a
connection with disability through the sport, it can open the door to challenge perceptions, which should result in a world where disabled children are being integrated into PE activities rather than disincluded, which is often the case to- day,” Hollingsworth says.
EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS Parasport, a web-based tool for finding sports opportunities and a resource that informs on the classification that relates to the degree of impairment for each sport, has become an important link to the Paralympic brand. It also helps peo- ple use the right language linked to sport for physically impaired people, rather than the overused, and negative conno- tations linked to ‘disability’ sport. The BPA has been seen to be ‘con-
trolling’ by members of the media for producing a ‘guide to language’ for use during the Games. However, Holling- sworth says that it’s conscious about language around sport and thinks the organisation had an obligation to try and influence that. “It’s not compulsory, it’s a guide,” he says. “As a nation we’re con- scious about language surrounding race or gender, so it’s absolutely legitimate to do the same thing around disability.”
There are few better ways to cut through to
wider society views around disability than the Paralympics. We need to make sure that this spotlight is effective in changing perceptions
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sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
JOINED-UP THINKING Public funding is becoming available through sports’ national governing bodies (NGBs) to enable a wider delivery of paras- port and Hollingsworth says the BPA’s aim is to find ways to broker and facilitate with home countries sport and disability federations as well as NGBs to help with open days and Paralympic Potential days, to offer multi-sport sessions and further promote the parasport website. Meanwhile, another part of the BPA’s
strategy is to broker relationships with centres of excellence. “We’re looking to further develop
partnerships with universities or leisure facilities for BPA accreditation, which fur- ther promotes the brand and highlights the facility as a centre of excellence for disability sport,” Hollingsworth explains. “Obviously the criteria for this part-
nership would be access to world-class, fully-inclusive sport facilities and accom- modation where appropriate, however, research is also a key areas for us. For example, Loughborough University and the University of Bath already have well- defined research programmes around disability sport. It’s one thing to conduct research for disability sport within the sports science department; it’s quite an- other if the engineering and psychology departments have got an interest in dis- ability programmes too,” he says. “Using London 2012 as our launch-
pad is about providing value, maybe by adding a resource or a partnership that can benefit the brand, and ultimately the end user/participant. Thanks to the Games, the world’s attention is turning towards us now, we’re looking at how these partnerships can develop into the future and how our role can evolve to make sure we get the most out the this ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity.” l
Issue 2 2012 © cybertrek 2012
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