Modelo de requerimientos

In April 2018, Gold Coast Australia hosted the XXI Commonwealth Games, bringing together over 4,426 athletes from 72 nations for 10 days of competition. Two hundred and fifty-one were para sport athletes. Seven para sport events were part of the

competition schedule; athletics, aquatics, table tennis, power lifting, cycling, lawn bowls and para triathlon. The Village served as home for all athletes, providing space to eat, sleep, socialize, and prepare to compete during the Games. Some athletes inhabited The

Village for just a few days, arriving a day or two before scheduled competition and

departed shortly thereafter. Other athletes who competed in events that span the duration of the Games, as is the case with athletics and aquatics, and those who travelled

substantial distance, took up residence in The Village for as long as a month.

The first author, an experienced sport physiotherapist with longstanding involvement in the Paralympic movement, is a veteran of multiple international sporting events including six Paralympic Games. To conduct this ethnographic work, she had daily access to The

Village during these Games. Because of her longstanding engagement with Paralympic

sport, she was distinctively positioned as an ‘insider’ within The Village and Games milieu. Her positionality facilitated access to gatekeepers and to the athletes themselves. The second and third authors, given their years of involvement with Paralympic Games, para sport governance and research experience with the broader para sport community, served as ‘critical friends’ throughout the project.

4.3.1

Data Collection

An ethnographic approach was used to collect data involving informal

conversations and semi-structured interviews with para sport athletes, as well as sustained observation of life in The Village. Consent for research involvement was obtained in accordance with Ethics Approval by the Office of Human Research Ethics (OHRE) in which Games management was informed of the presence of the first author, and formal interviewees signed consent to participate. It is important to note that an ethnography involves fluidity in data collection approaches where not all conversations are formalized interviews but serve as vital sources of data. Alongside numerous casual conversations, six formalized semi-structured interviews with athletes were performed to increase the trustworthiness of the findings (Carpiano, 2009). These conversations focused athlete’s involvement in para sport, competition history including previous Games

(Commonwealth/Para Pan American/Paralympic), personal experiences at the Games being studied, and their experiences and perspectives regarding daily life in The Village. Formal interviews with four administrators focused on Games infrastructure, historical decisions around integration, structures, integration of para sport athletes at these Games, and general observations regarding The Village. To recruit athletes and others to

participate in the formal aspects of the process, multiple strategies were employed including- recruitment posters, meetings with potential gatekeepers (i.e. coaching staff, administrative personnel of multiple delegations, members of national Health Science Teams), and speaking to athletes directly.

Critical to the ethnographic approach was the daily observation of life in The Village (Coffey, 1999; Silva & Howe, 2019; Spradley, 1979). Observation was sustained, on- going and conducted in many locations throughout The Village. These observations focused on athlete interactions with different physical locations throughout The Village space, as well as social involvement of para sport athletes in the daily life of The Village. On-going recording of the observational data in a research journal was completed by the first author, including important information from the many informal conversations that occurred daily.

4.3.2

Analysis

Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted informed by the work of Holstein and Gubrium (2011). This involved all data including fieldnotes being transcribed verbatim. The transcript was then read in its entirety and edited for content that was determined non-essential to the project. Recursive analysis, with a focus on words and phrases regarding constraints and opportunities of the para sport athlete to interact with the spatiality of The Village, was utilized to determine dominant and recurring themes.

4.3.3

Presentation of Research Findings

Findings of the research are presented here in an historical ethnographic vignette, based on sustained, intimate observations of daily life in The Village, interviews with para sport athletes from a variety of delegations, and casual conversations with non-athletes,

including coaches, volunteers and Village staff. The ethnographic vignette that follows was created by utilizing observational data, excerpts from the first author’s reflexive journal and elements of creative writing (Beuthin, Bruce, & Shields, 2015). This approach attempts to present a coherent story, and to evocatively present our research findings as has been achieved by other sport scholars (Bruce, 1998; Denison, 1996; Markula, 2011). In the discussion section of the paper, important themes from the vignette are considered and unpacked. Like a compelling story, a well-constructed essayistic research narrative (Howe, 2018; Markula & Denison, 2005; Silva & Howe, 2019) ebbs and flows with a rhythm that seems almost natural, though both are carefully constructed. We anticipate that the presentation of the findings in this form encourages the reader to appreciate the potentiality of ethnographic methodology as a rich, deeply human approach to social inquiry. As well, the vignette illustrates the embeddedness and intimate relationship of themes within this research.