1. Sports For All Project, Northern Sri Lanka

2. The basics…
 A 2-year project, funded by EU, implemented by
Handicap International (May 2011 – Apr 2013)
 Centred on Vavuniya District in Northern Sri Lanka with
outreach elsewhere in the North (Kilinochchi,
Mullaitivu, Mannar)
 Works through government sports offices, sports clubs,
social services, youth services, schools, NGOs and
disabled people’s organisations

3. Goals
For children and youth with disabilities:
 to improve their quality of life physically, psychologically and
socially
For the wider community:
 to raise awareness about disability and to promote social
inclusion
Underlying approach:
Inclusive sport

4. What do we do?
1. Awareness-raising and advocacy

5. 2. Training
Adapted sports/materials
Adapted coaching/teaching methods

6. 3. Providing equipment
Examples….
Carrom
Table-tennis

7. 4. Supporting sports events

8. Elements of a successful Sport for
Development programme
From an Inclusive Sport perspective
1. Look beyond the sporting outcomes
 ‘ ….there is nothing about …sport itself that is magical ….It is the
experience of sport that may facilitate the result’.
Papacharisisi et al (2005)
It’s all about sport delivery:
 participants’ experience
 relationships
 processes (theory of change)

9. Individual/
community
Individual outcomes
impacts
Sporting
outcomes
Sporting
outputs
Adapted from
Coalter

10. Example:
Coaching disabled youths in wheelchair basketball
Individual/community
outcomes –greater
acceptance of disabled
Individual people, more solidarity
impacts – between disabled
increased people…
Sporting strength, self-
outcomes – confidence,
improvement in leadership skills,
skills, match more friends…
results
Sporting output
– number of Implications for project HR:
disabled youth •Recruitment
coached •Staff training
•Partnerships

11. 2. Innovation/creativity
 New/adapted sports, new materials
 Trial and error - learn from your mistakes!
Tennikoit
Speed stacking

12. 3. Seeks sustainability by addressing attitude/policy change
Sitting shot put to feature in
mainstream sports meets?
Boccia as a recognised school sport?

13. 4. Listen and adapt
Examples:
 Project reorientation towards children
 Responding to participants’ requests, eg. rehabilitation,
sports

14. Evidence and measuring impact on community and
individual development
1. Formal data-collection
Baseline survey questionnaires/assessments for children and youth:
Disabled children/youth:
 physical – fitness/physiotherapy assessment
 psychological – self-esteem, self-efficacy
 social – sport participation, social participation
Non-disabled children/youth:
 Attitudes towards disability and inclusion in sport
Pre and post-intervention? Challenges…
External evaluation

15. Examples:
1. Sport participation
How often do you play sport? Children/youth with
disabilities, n=168
80
70
70
60
50 47
40
31
30
20
11
9
10
0
Every day Once a week Once a month Rarely Never

16. 2. Self-esteem
'I am able to do things as well as most other
people' (youth with disabilities, n= 42)
7% 5%
17%
19% Strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly agree
No response
52%

17. 3. Self-efficacy
'I don’t seem to be capable of dealing with most
problems that come up in my life' (youth with
disabilities, n=42)
5%
16%
24% Strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly agree
31% No response
24%

18. 4. Attitudes towards disability
'Children with disabilities are less popular in my school
than non-disabled children‘ (non-disabled
schoolchildren, n=110)
Strongly
disagree
15%
Strongly agree
Disagree a bit
36%
14%
Neither agree or
Agree a bit
disagree 24%
11%

19. 2. Informal data-collection
 Observations, anecdotes, ‘off-the-ball incidents’ (qualitative
evidence)
Impact on children/youth with disabilities (and their parents):
Sitting volleyball gives Mary Anita new hope
and ambition, and bridges the ethnic divide

20. Sport offers
Prabakharan
the chance to:
try new
experiences
go to new
places
meet
disabled role
models
and enjoy
some
escapism!!

21. Impact on society
Double amputees create a
sensation at the British High
Commission

22. Wheelchair-users steal the
show at Vavuniya Youth
Sports Meet
Karate club takes deaf youth
to heart

23. To summarise…
A good sport and development project:
 is creative and innovative
 is responsive and listens to its participants
 aims for sustainable change
 collects evidence formally and informally (ie. it has the means to do
so!)
And above all:
Looks beyond sport:
‘There’s nothing magical about sport’ – practitioners need to focus on
quality delivery and social outcomes
Thanks for listening!

24. Keep in touch!
Steve Harknett, Project Manager
Handicap International
No. 25th, 5th Lane
Vairavapuliyankulam
Vavuniya
Sri Lanka
Email: pmsfa@handicap-international-sl.org