Leveraging parasport events for sustainable community participation: The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Abstract

Drawing on a case study of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, this article examines the extent to which the hosting of an integrated parasport event where able-bodied athletes and athletes with a disability compete alongside one another is being leveraged to create opportunities for community participation, and influence community attitudes towards disability. The assumption about hosting parasport events is that the mere visibility of events will impact attitudes and perceptions towards persons with disabilities in a positive manner; however, little evidence beyond anecdotes supports this assumption. Recent research on leveraging events also suggests the need to strategically utilize the opportunity of the event and related resources if seeking to attain sustainable positive impacts for the host community [Chalip, L. 2006. “Towards Social Leverage of Sport Events.” Journal of Sport & Tourism 11 (2): 109–127. doi:10.1080/14775080601155126]. Empirically, this article draws on extensive data collection undertaken before, during and after the 2014 Commonwealth Games, specifically an analysis of policy and legacy planning documents and strategic interviews conducted pre-Games examining the tactics, strategies and programmes used by stakeholders to enhance community participation opportunities. The results suggest that whilst at the strategic level there was evidence of an integrated policy approach to leveraging the event for broader accessibility outcomes, this was not always accompanied by clear programmes or projects that are likely to lead to demonstrable impacts beyond the normal temporality of large-scale sporting events. We conclude by suggesting that the absence of clear, resourced and measurable aspirations for the parasport element of the Games may lead to unfulfilled leveraging possibilities as levels of interest and resources diminish.

Keywords:

• Commonwealth Games
• leveraging
• parasport
• disability sport
• critical disability theory

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)/Sport Canada Research Participation initiative for Canada [grant number 435-2013-1747].

Notes on contributors

Dr Laura Misener is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology at Western University. She teaches in the areas of sport for development, globalization, and event management. Her research focuses on how sport and events can be used as instruments of social change. Her work critically examines numerous ways that sport events have been purported to positively affect community development, social infrastructure, social inclusion, and healthy lifestyles of community members. Dr Misener's current research programme is focusing on the role of sport events for persons with a disability in influencing community accessibility and perceptions of disability. Her work has been published in scholarly outlets such as Journal of Sport Management, European Sport Management Quarterly, and Managing Leisure, and she recently co-edited a special issue of Sport Management Review of Managing Disability Sport.

Professor David McGillivray holds a Chair in Event and Digital Cultures at University of the West of Scotland. His research interests focus on the contemporary significance of events and festivals (sporting and cultural) as markers of identity and mechanisms for the achievements of wider economic, social and cultural externalities. His current research focuses on the value of digital media in enabling alternative readings of major sport events to find currency within the saturated media landscape. He is also a co-investigator on a major UK/Canadian collaborative project exploring the role of sport events for persons with a disability in influencing community accessibility and community perceptions of disability. He is co-author of Event Policy: From Theory to Strategy (2011) and co-editor of Research Themes for Events (2013) and has published extensively in Leisure Studies, Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events and most recently in Urban Studies.

Professor Gayle McPherson holds a Chair of Events and Cultural Policy within the School of Media, Culture and Society at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Her research interests revolve around the interventions of the local and national state in events and festivity of all types and the social and cultural impacts of events on communities. She is currently a co-investigator on the international collaborative research project Leveraging Parasport Events: for sustainable community participation. She is involved in a digital literacy practice-based research project around the Commonwealth Games 2014. She is a member of European Cultural Parliament and teaches at the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin. She has published widely in the events, culture and festivals area, including as a co-editor of ‘Research themes in Events’ (2013), Routledge, as co-author of ‘Event Policy: From Theory to Strategy’ with Routledge (2011) and many journal articles and book chapters.

David Legg is a professor of sport management at Mount Royal University in Calgary. He is the Past President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee and a current member of the Sport Science Committee for the International Paralympic Committee. Dr Legg's area of research is in the area of sport and disability, and adapted physical activity. He has published and presented extensively in sport management and disability studies, and has been influential in advancing policies in sport for persons with disabilities.