When asked for their opinion, both coaches and disability experts quickly point out that sport can open a new world of access for people with a disability: they become stronger, gain more endurance, and are generally healthier and more confident outside the playing field. But these benefits are not limited to the participants themselves. Ultimately, everyone gains from the inclusion of persons with a disability in sport programs.

Bob Schrader can list numerous reasons why parents should register their child with a disability in a sport program. "Parents of a child with a disability should know that sport helps their kid to be more self-sufficient, which can help them be better in school," he says. "In sport they challenge themselves and do things on their own. Other kids can be high strung, and sport can help them be active. And finally, just for their health. Because they are active, their whole body will be healthier."

Dean Kozak says that sport can enrich the lives of persons with a disability and also says that role models must be presented to the beginners. "A lot of persons with a disability don’t tend to get out a lot," he says. "Sport will give them a better sense of belonging in the community." Kozak adds that sport skills can be valuable to a person with a disability in everyday life. He recommends that coaches point this out to apprehensive parents. And he says that the key to a successful integration program is to get everyone involved and helping each other out.

 Perspective from the coaches

The first time Jeff Snyder saw a sledge hockey player get knocked out of his sled, he was quick to the rescue … a little too quick. "The player didn’t want any of my sympathy," says Snyder, an insurance broke in Elmira, Ont. "I really respected that. These guys are hockey players who happen to have a disability, not disabled hockey players."

Snyder is the head coach of Canada’s national sledge hockey team, the only sledge hockey team he has ever coached. Sledge players strap their legs into a sled with a skate runner underneath and propel themselves across the ice with a pair of sawed-off hockey sticks that have picks on the butt ends. Snyder joined the program in 2002, and it was his first experience coaching athletes with a disability. Snyder previously was coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers from 1998 to 2001, one circuit below the National Hockey League.

"I found the attitude of the sledge hockey players very refreshing," says Snyder. "They weren’t facing the same pressures and objectives as the juniors, who are obviously very concerned with hockey being a livelihood in the near to immediate future.

"In sledge hockey, I find my coaching is having a greater impact on the players and the players are more receptive to it. It was easier to adjust than I thought, because there are many similarities to able-bodied hockey."

Snyder faced some initial worries when he started coaching sledge hockey. "I wondered how my experience in coaching able-bodied hockey would transfer over," he says. "I was pretty honest with the players at the beginning. I told them it was going to be a learning process for me to see what works." One of the first challenges for Snyder was assessing the talent level of his players. The team is split between paraplegic and amputee players. "There’s not a big pool of players in this sport, so there was a talent gap at the beginning,: he says. "And I think at first I made my drills too complicated. I always try to keep it simple, and I feel we’ve narrowed that gap. It’s been beneficial to all/" Snyder says some drills are the same as in able-bodied hockey, such as puck handling, shooting, and one-on-one drills. One different drill is teaching the players to shoot with both hands. "It’s a great move when you can slip the puck under your sled with one hand and then shoot with the other."

In the end, there’s no secret recipe to making his players better. "If you want to be successful you have to work hard in practice and compete hard in games."

In addition to functional impairment, physical disability may reduce a person’s ability to exercise and develop physical fitness. Inadequate physical fitness can then contribute to mobility impairment and predispose the person with a disability to other medical complications associated with immobility. Immediate consequences may include muscular weakness and obesity, which may interfere with walking, wheelchair propulsion, and transfers. The resulting sedentary lifestyle encourages obesity, hypertension, osteoporosis, high blood cholesterol, and diabetes, factors that put both able-bodied and disabled people at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Some people become more susceptible to skin pressure sores, urinary tract infections, joint contractures, depression, and many other problems associated with physical deconditioning and immobility. These common medical problems discourage successful participation in active recreational activities and sports, further compromising physical fitness. Figure 4.1 depicts the cycle of deconditioning with physical disability. Therefore, the need for exercise training for individuals with physical disabilities is critical to prevent the vicious cycle of deconditioning, functional deterioration, and hypoactivity and to promote general health and an active lifestyle, both of which may prevent medical complications and promote maximal functional independence.

In addition to neurological causes of muscular paralysis, diseases such as muscular dystrophy can cause progressive weakness from childhood to adulthood. For people with these diseases, aerobic conditioning is important to prevent premature deconditioning and to delay functional deterioration and additional hypoactivity.

General benefits of aerobic exercise training for people with physical disabilities, whether performed with the arms or legs, may include these:

• Temporary reduction in muscular spasticity
• Increased functional independence
• Increased endurance for wheelchair propulsion and transfers
• Improved vocational productivity
• Improved performance in disabled sports
• More satisfying participation in community, social, recreational, and family activities
• Reduced psychological depression
• Improved self-image

 Fitness Programming and Physical Disability,
Patricia Miller, A publication for Disabled Sport USA
Human Kinetics, 1995
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