Upplevelser av och kring parafotboll : En kvalitativ studie av fotbollens påverkan på spelarna

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of how athletes with disabilities experience their participation in disability football, and how it affects them both when practicing football and outside practice. The study was conducted in participation with the Swedish Football Association. The study was constructed through a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews as its foundation. A total of six people were interviewed, the respondents in this study all suffered from various degrees of neuropsychiatric disabilities. The questions that were asked during the interviews were based around the athletes’ experiences and how they considered the effects football has had on them. The results showed that a majority of the athletes had exclusively positive experiences connected to the practice of organized football and the only caveat was the distance they sometimes had to travel to get to the location of the practice. The most important impact that football has had on the athletes according to themselves was the friends they made and the increased social circle that football provided. Regarding possible changes the athletes wanted to see implemented, the majority only had one major wish and that was for a larger number of practices each week. Furthermore, this study indicates the importance of organized disability sports based on the positive impact that it has on its participants.