Aim: The Swedish Sports Confederation is performing a large organisational change. This involves closing the Parasport Federation, one of their 73 national sports organisations (NSO) which today sponsors 14 sports for athletes with disabilities. These athletes will be included in other NSOs offering the same or similar sports, mainly for athletes without disabilities. This ongoing project follows this change within one of the NSOs, the Swedish Floorball Federation (SFF). The project investigates on individual and organisational levels the knowledge of, preparedness for, and experienced opportunities and obstacles to a process of change toward equal conditions for the participation of athletes with disabilities.
Methods: Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods have been used. Questionnaires were sent to the board and administrative staff of the SFF as well as to administrative staff in the 21 district associations with a total of 55 responses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 35 chosen stakeholders within the board and staff of the federation, chairpersons of the districts and representatives from five clubs with floorball for people with and without disabilities. In these clubs, 15 additional interviews were carried out among athletes with and without disabilities and their relatives.
Results: Preliminary results from questionnaires indicate that there is a lack of knowledge regarding the process among some key stakeholders within SFF. For example, only about one third of the respondents at federation and district level claim to know enough about the process to be able to tell another person about it. The results from the interviews also indicate a concern, mainly among stakeholders, that the needs of athletes with disabilities might not become a priority in the same way as it is today in the Parasport Federation, with specific knowledge and experience in disability sports. However, based on the interviews, the general opinion seems to be that athletes with disabilities will gain a deeper sense of belonging by joining the same federation and club as athletes without disabilities, who in return will gain an understanding of disability sports and their athletes.
Discussion/Conclusions: Overall, there is a clear will to develop disability sports within the SFF. However, for reaching equal conditions an obstacle that must be dealt with in the further process is the risk that athletes with disabilities will become less of a priority. Furthermore, there seems to be a lack of knowledge and preparedness for the change on some key levels, and this calls for communicative strategies about what should be achieved through the organisational change. With a successful change, there is an opportunity for understanding about people with disabilities to spread outside the sports context and thus create awareness in a wider sense.