Presenting paradigmatic model of the characteristics of the Paralympic athlete's aptitude development environment

When it comes to identifying and developing talent in sports for athletes with disabilities, it is important to note that high-performance sports for people with disabilities are fundamentally different from those of healthy people in terms of discovering and developing new talents. Extraordinary performances and success in sports for the disabled and providing an environment for the development of talents such as non-sports for the disabled is simply not possible and the success or failure of sports depends on factors such as: economic, social and human resources in a country. The present study aimed to provide a paradigm model of the characteristics of the talent development environment of Paralympic athletes.

This research has been done in the framework of a qualitative approach and by applying the data research method of the foundation. Participants in this study were physical education and sports science specialists, Paralympic and world champion athletes and disabled sports coaches who were selected by purposive and theoretical sampling for semi-structured interviews and the interviews continued until the theoretical saturation stage. Data were analyzed simultaneously with data collection using Strauss and Corbin method. The acceptability of the data was confirmed based on 5 criteria.

Results:

 The results show that 15 main categories and 76 subcategories in the form of 6 dimensions of the paradigm model include: 1- Causal causes including 4 categories: individual, cultural, economic and social factors; 2- The main phenomenon includes 1 category: a special approach to cultivating sports talent for the disabled; 3- Strategy includes 2 categories: management system design, process-oriented strategy; 4- Ground characteristics including 3 categories: planning, support, supportive background; 5- The intervener includes 2 categories: infrastructural factors, environmental factors; 6- Outcome includes 3 categories: successful disability, championship, development of sports abilities of the disabled; The paradigm model is the characteristics of the talent development environment of Paralympic athletes.

The integration of categories based on the relationships between them around the axis of the talent development environment of paralympic athletes forms a paradigm model reflecting the pattern of managers involved in the talent development environment of Paralympic athletes.