Michael Jeffress’ book, Communication, Sport and Disability: The Case of Power Soccer, presents a compelling case for the sport of power soccer, touching on some of its many areas of potential benefit: physical health, psychosocial health, relating to people, self-efficacy beliefs, and the acquisition and utilization of social capital. The book begins by describing the complete lack of team sports available for people who use power wheelchairs, and goes on to relate, using ethnographic methods, the impact that power soccer had and is having on a number of recreational and high-level participants. The use of personal stories (Jeffress’ son was an active power soccer player) and stories related by study participants allows for an in-depth understanding on the positive outcomes that have been experienced by power soccer players.
Jeffress begins his book by outlining the development of power soccer from its creation as the first team sport designed for power wheelchair users in the 1970s in France, how it came across to North America throughout the 1980s, and how it has gained in popularity and participation to this day. The story of power soccer’s growth is set against the backdrop of Jeffress and his son’s own discovery of the sport, how it changed their perception of how power wheelchair users can participate in team sports, and the various benefits that may be accrued by participating. Jeffress conducted an ethnographic study among power soccer athletes to better understand their perceptions of the benefits of power soccer and give voice to their experiences as power wheelchair users who were able (some after a life-long search) to participate in a team sport designed specifically for power wheelchair users.
Importantly, Jeffress situates his discussion of the barriers faced by power wheelchair users into a social understanding of these issues, speaking as both academic and advocate for his son and other power soccer athletes. What is noteworthy is the way in which social barriers are discussed and deconstructed without explicit mention of the social or medical models of disability. Doing so effectively transcends those models by discussing barriers without discounting the impact of physical impairment in the lives of power wheelchair users. Navigating the potential pitfalls of both the social and medical approaches to disability, Jeffress keeps his analysis grounded in the lived experiences of his study participants, as well as his own experiences as the father of a power wheelchair user.
As an exploratory study of the potential benefits of power soccer, this book outlines some of the key potential benefits of the sport, such as the physical activity of playing power soccer. One point of critique to offer in this regard, however, is that it is not necessarily made clear that the study was purely ethnographic and did not include any evaluations of physical fitness before, during, or after participation in power soccer. The book presents evidence of the subjective feeling of being active and having exercised, but it stops short of calling for more comprehensive study of the potential physical benefits of power soccer that may be able to further the cause of the sport if physical benefits are found to be associated with participation. Similarly, the psychosocial benefits expressed by Jeffress’ study participants present a compelling narrative, but do not necessarily represent compelling evidence of whether psychosocial benefits are taking place. In the interest of advancing the sport of power soccer, a clear call for further research is warranted in order gain a clearer picture of its benefits, and this may be used to promote power soccer’s inclusion in high-level disability sport competitions, as well as promoting the sport in the power wheelchair user community.
One of the key strengths of Communication, Sport and Disability comes as the result of Jeffress’ insider status in the power soccer community. As the father of a power soccer player, Jeffress had personal relationships with nearly all of his study participants, and his observations of the power soccer community are detailed and unique. Anecdotes about specific occurrences at power soccer tournaments are frequent throughout the book, as Jeffress paints a picture of a sport that is both highly competitive and places a high value on sportsmanship and camaraderie among players.
The cover of the book shows a power soccer player draped in the American flag as he celebrates a victory at an international power soccer competition. Importantly, power soccer represents a vehicle through which power wheelchair users can both aspire to and represent their countries in international sporting competitions. Jeffress describes how his identity, from the time he was a child, was wrapped up in being an athlete, and the highest level of athleticism to which one generally aspires is to represent one’s country. The development of power soccer provides this aspirational opportunity for power wheelchair users. An exploration of how this development relates to the provision of substantive citizenship among power wheelchair users is hopefully forthcoming, whether from Jeffress, or from other scholars building on his work.
I recommend Communication, Sport and Disability for disability scholars as well as anyone interested in the development of disability sport in America. Jeffress has written a book that is very clear and readable which touches on a unique subject matter from a perspective – that of power wheelchair athletes – not often represented in the disability sport literature.
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
[email protected]
© 2016 Shauna Cappe
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2016.1198551