Leveraging parasport events for community participation: development of a theoretical framework

• Published in: European sport management quarterly Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 132 - 153
• Main Author: Misener, Laura
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 01.01.2015
• Subjects: accessibility; community development; events; leverage; parasport
• ISSN: 1618-4742; 1746-031X
• DOI: 10.1080/16184742.2014.997773

Research question: Sporting events have become highly sought after tools for economic, tourism, and social development in cities around the world; however, little is understood about how to effectively leverage events. This purpose of this paper is to present a framework for leveraging small-medium scale sporting events for increasing community accessibility and opportunities for persons with a disability to participate in sport, recreation, and leisure. Research methods: Drawing upon interview and documentary data that are part of a broader research project that examines how small-medium scale sporting events have and can be leveraged to enhance accessible opportunities in local communities, the data were reanalysed focused postevent learning in regards to leveraging strategies for future event opportunities in order to build the framework. Results and findings: The Parasport-leveraging Framework is presented here as an emergent leveraging structure that shifts the focus of parasport event legacies away from the notion that merely hosting a disability sport event will impact upon communities' understanding and relationship with disability sport. Further, the framework emphasizes the need to strategically use the events in the context of policy frames and discourses of event-related processes. Implications: This research furthers the work of Chalip, Smith, and others who have argued that in order for benefits to accrue to a host region, host communities need to find points of leverage within the context of event resources to enhance positive social legacies. Additionally, it offers a strategic starting point for communities seeking to implement leveraging plans alongside event agendas.