A roundtable refers to a discussion, conference or group conversation in which each participant has equal status and time to offer their perspectives on specific subjects. Our subject: “Women with Disability in Sport” and how to advance the opportunities and potential for sports to be and

continue to be an important tool in the development of girls and women with disability both on and off the field of play.

The Women with Disability in Sport Roundtable was comprised of a highly diverse group of female athletes with disability and also women who are engaged in work within this specific group. By bringing experiences, perspectives and insights in addressing the removal of barriers to participation that impact girls and women with disability within the sports movement, an important and often overlooked dialogue has begun. They worked across specific content areas to generate common themes, as well as to highlight the breaks, the unfilled spaces, which are commonly referred to as “the gaps” within the movement.

By creating this roundtable and complementary focus groups we were and are able to provide a starting point for the development of goals and strategies that will both provide and advocate for a consistent message – a roadmap – to navigate the inclusion of women and girls with disability in leadership, coaching, sports administration, officiating, mentoring, media visibility and community engagement.

“Thanks for organizing such a powerful group of ladies!” – Jen Armbruster Paralympian, Goalball

COMMON THEMESand

AREAS OF INVESTIGATION • Leadership and Advocacy• Role Models and Mentorship• Women’s Issues• Unification, Collaboration and Networking• Education• Media, Communication and Adapted Sport• Health and Life Transition• Inclusion and Culture • Visibility

Leadership and Advocacy

Leadership and advocacy were found to be the highest priorities by the majority of the working teams, as well as within the focus group sessions. There are also significant overlaps of information where you will see the more engaged, one-on-one type of involvement within leadership and advocacy in the areas of mentoring and on being role models.

Leadership was identified as gaining “seats at the decision-making table” in boardrooms of both corporate and non-profit organizations, elected offices in all levels of politics, sports organizations that serve people with and without disabilities and on university campuses.

Group members identified that women with disability can benefit from increased opportunities when relationships are built.

The question is: How will we do that?

The answer: By focusing on leadership opportunities, actively serving on board(s) of directors, becoming part of the leadership within women’s organizations as well as sport organizations in general. This will require a strategic identification and prioritization of those women who are the best fits and possess the greatest potential to fill those positions.

“THANK YOU for hosting such an incredible event – so valuable and much needed! I appreciate all the time, energy, passion and dedication that you have put into this. It was fantastic and looking forward to future editions.” – Julie O’Neill Managing Director, US Paralympics

Role Models and Mentorship

Additional themes within all the areas of investigation and discussion were role model and mentorship opportunities, with a strong emphasis on the importance of being a visible role model with reciprocal mentorship opportunities. Such examples include being a coach or in another leadership role for a team of players with or without disability, visiting a girl or woman in the hospital who is newly disabled, addressing other women in sport, athletes who are transitioning to other life roles (e.g., parenting, non-competitive roles in sport) and/or working with organizations who provide a more systematic method of offering girls and women visible evidence of the potential for sports in creating opportunities they perhaps had not known were available to them.

Discussions also included that an emphasis on visibility through sport and activity provides an excellent method to educate and engage with the community as well.

Receiving and providing mentorship through identification of fitting advocates and maintaining leadership through a mentorship process was looked upon as a powerful strategy in fostering a route of self-advocacy in order to give women who do not feel heard a voice to speak for themselves. Finding, cultivating and educating potential role models for girls and women with disability will be a key step in fulfilling this goal.

Also discussed was empowering the leadership of all types of disability groups to collaborate and create a coalition of women with disability in sport representing a true and diverse population with a common message of opportunity for girls and women with disability.

Women’s Issues

Group members identified that there is a challenge for women with disability that is inherent in the movement due to the “double whammy” which was defined by the group as being both a woman and a woman with disability. Added to this “double whammy” can also be additional marginalized group identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, sexual orientation). Women with disability often contend with negative perceptions of what and who women with disability represent and are capable of, resulting in the potential gaps in experiencing equal opportunities to contribute to the movement and/or in various other domains of life. Other concerns that are related to women’s issues for women with disability as discussed were body image, increasing self-confidence and childcare.

“It was incredible to be in a room with that many successful women! Wonderful to share experiences, brainstorm ideas and leave feeling reinvigorated.” – Jessica Galli Cloy Paralympian, Track and Field

Unification, Collaboration and Networking

Articulated during both the working group team discussions and focus group discussions were the common themes of unification and collaboration.

The idea of collaboration embraced a broad spectrum of ideas. Group members identified that developing a shared vision is important to promote unification as a collaborative system that would include aligning with other civil rights and/or advocacy groups. This would allow the movement to broaden its base, hear the voices of women with disability and connect policy makers with those who implement policy. Due to the collective experiences of the women who participated, a natural place of engagement was college/university settings. A university campus allows for the potential to create a supportive network for the entire array of people with disability who engage in sport and to unify the voices of women with disability.

There was also an acknowledgement of a need for information to determine areas of common interest, potential advocacy and top priorities, with the question being: How can we best collaborate with the goal of having a collective and shared vision? Within these discussions was also the undercurrent theme of networking. Networking was described as the basic sharing of information, of knowing who to call for support to build a broader coalition to create an awareness that would lead to an understanding of the complexities contained therein.

Education

Education, in the context of the roundtable discussions, focused on the need to educate those without disability (non-disabled) to specifically assist with their understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing girls and women with disability.

Educators, teachers and counselors were the focus within schools, followed by coaches, community leaders, parents, the media and policy makers. All women present discussed the importance of an organized training for coaches, writers, counselors, and others held to a higher standard of care and who are employed in education. This training would provide a “certification” or earned credential giving all such employees a working knowledge of how best to engage and normalize the inclusion of girls and women with disability in sports and other activities. Additional areas of investigation within the scope of education were referred to under the themes of media, communication and adapted sport.

“This week I was chosen to participate in the first ever Women with Disability in Sport Roundtable event. It was an incredibly empowering day filled with discussions about ableism, disability in the media, creating social change, women with disabilities in athletics, body image and identity, and disability advocacy. Humbled and honored to have been in a room with fierce and powerful women from all around the U.S. having these conversations. There is so much work left to do, but we’re in it for the long haul.” – Sarah Goldman, MSW Advocate

Media, Communication and Adapted Sport

Media and the need for reporting on women with disability in sport were central to almost every conversation during the roundtable. There is an obvious underrepresentation of women in sport and even more so women with disability in sport. Media was seen as a powerful and untapped tool for advocacy and visibility for this population.

Focus group members also identified the importance of leveraging media to increase awareness and highlight successes in coverage focusing on sport-specific competitions and events. Using a conscious, strategic media campaign would provide accurate information about girls and women with disability in sport, which can result in the reduction of stigmas experienced by this population through increased awareness and education. Part of the discussions focused on the specific strategy of leveraging the media by providing opportunities for role models with disability to work in partnership with well-known athletes without disability.

Communication discussions also illuminated the need for accurate, positive language, using new words to talk about, report on, and engage with women with disability in sport. It is important that there is a consistent message, and that that message not “single out” but rather normalize the concepts of both women in sport as well as women with disability in sport. Potential discussed solutions seen as absolutely critical included providing trainings for commentators, coaches, sports writers and sports administrators. Also acknowledged was the need to train women with disability in sport to not only speak on behalf of themselves and their respective sport lives, but to speak well, to promote themselves and what they represent with a message that is consistent, accurate and aligned with the majority message about women with disability in sport.

Adapted sport has a dual educational component: Access and Awareness. Group members identified that there needs to be access to and an awareness of adapted sport though increased intentional education. Access would include a focus on addressing adapted sport through systems that promote coaching, inclusion within K-12 educational systems, access to adapted sport equipment and accessible transportation. Creating opportunities in sport to participate at every level of ability in schools and/or in community-based programs would create the sustainable “pipeline” for participants to have more choice

“The WDS roundtable was completely awesome - thank you for organizing and inviting and making it all happen. So valuable to have that many minds and accomplished women in one space.” – Kelly Crowley Paralympian, Swimming, Cycling

regarding the level of adapted sport they wish to pursue (e.g., novice, recreation, high performance). Also noted in the adapted sport theme as an important component to creating more awareness was the previously discussed need for coach and instructor education at all levels of sport.

There was also a subtle and tangential reference to road maps and the lack thereof. Road maps are defined here as tools to assist women with disability in sport to successfully navigate strategies for participation. There was a realization that there are really no road maps for women with disability in sport to understand and/or know how to navigate into leadership positions; coaching; sports administration; officiating; mentoring; and community engagement.

Health and Transition

Group members identified that although adapted sport can be one way to engage in physical activity and fitness, it would be helpful to include a broader definition of health that includes mental health, nutrition and general quality of life.

An additional area of investigation is that of transition. Transition in this context is considered a change of being. Examples may include an athlete retiring from competitive sports, beginning a career, or focusing on educational opportunities and/or motherhood. It is also a time of change for those who have acquired a disability and are adjusting to a different way of life. Noted was the importance of connecting rehabilitation with the community as a model of transition, with a specific focus on sport as a potential vehicle through which to engage as an active member of the community. To achieve this objective, it is important to move away from the medical model of disability, which focuses on an individual's limitations and ways to diminish impairment, and to work on educating the medical community comprised of physicians, administrators, rehabilitation professionals and durable medical

goods providers in the social model of disability. The social model explains that disability is caused by the way society is structured rather than by a person’s impairment or difference, and focuses on ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for people with disability. When barriers are removed, girls, women and people with disability can be independent and equal in society, with choice and control over their own lives.

“…to be in a room with so many powerful women was a profound and memorable moment for me. The world of women in sport with disabilities will change from this moment on….as these roundtables continue we can start a movement that will empower young women and let them see all the possibilities with the support of past and current athletes.” – Hope Lewellen Paralympian, Wheelchair Tennis, Sitting Volleyball

Inclusion and Culture

Group members also identified that focusing solely on women with disability in sport may be exclusionary due to the specific nature of the movement. Members suggested recruitment of diverse populations to enhance this dialogue. Cultural diversity is of utmost inclusionary importance. To create avenues of participation within the women’s movement would create greater advocacy opportunities and a more powerful voice in order to facilitate change.

Visibility

The most obvious and resonating theme was visibility, with a specific desire to be seen as an accepted and respected member of both society and team, not as someone who is “special” or the “token” person with disability.

In all of the themes and areas of investigation listed within this narrative, there are noticeable areas of overlap. They are all components of each other and their viability lends to the importance of further discussions. With the ever-changing profile of disability, the importance of supporting ongoing research that includes women with disability is imperative.

“The WDS Roundtable was an exciting opportunity to meet other women who have disabilities and are active and successful. It was amazing to be able to share joys, issues and annoyances. I hope that the results of the roundtable bring about continued discussion and improvements for women with disabilities.” – Sharon Bates 8th grade history teacher

“What an honor to have been able to take part in this. Met some incredible women and helped generate ideas that will help women in sport with disabilities.” – Virginia Powell Retired Special Education Teacher, Adapted Cycling Instructor

ROUNDTABLE TAKEAWAYS and SUGGESTIONS

• Create an annual Women with Disability in Sport event• Women in attendance are prepared to and able to take on leadership roles• Gather information on shared priorities and collaborative opportunities• Survey, share and build bridges to collaboration among this group• Create a task force • Create leadership and transitional training courses• Build a network• Develop communication strategy for the network • Identify highest priority places for “seats at the table” • Identify champions within these networks and boards to assist with acquisition of position(s) • Identify Women with Disability in Sport roundtable participants for said positions• Craft accurate, positive language for circulation to create buy-in• Build a mentoring network• Investigate potential for “Road Map To” model program• Strategize a media campaign; can be partnered with an existing media campaign• Find sport manufacturing company that will invest in making Women with Disability in Sport a predictable and inclusive section of their media campaign