Assessment of Organizational Capacity and Challenges in Disability Sports Participation by Secondary School Students with Special Needs in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed organizational capacity and challenges in disability sports participation by secondary school students with special needs in Ibadan, Nigeria. The tested independent variables were organizational predators variables of strategic planning, network capacity, logistics, funding sources, sports infrastructure, interest of coaches and knowledge of organizing personnel while disability sport participation was used as the dependent variable. Strategic planning (ß=0.289, t=2.816, p=0.008), logistics (ß=0.612, t=7.103, p=0.000), interest of coaches (ß=0.536, t=7.795, p=0.000) and knowledge of organizing personnel (ß=0.500, t=7.836, p=0.000) were independently tested significantly on disability sport participation while network capacity (ß=0.171, t=1.772, p=0.085), funding sources (ß=0.082, t=1.360, p=0.182) and sports infrastructure (ß=0.111, t=1.948, p=0.059) are not independently tested significant on disability sport participation. There is a composite joint contribution of strategic planning, network capacity, infrastructure, funding, logistics, interest of coaches, and knowledge of organizing personnel on disability sports participation in schools of individuals with special needs in Ibadan, Nigeria (F_(7,39)=100.210, p=0.00). The result also generated a coefficient multiple regression of R=0.977 and R² =0.955; implying that about 95.5% of variance was accounted for by the independent variable. Strategic planning, logistics, interest of coaches, and knowledge of organizing personnel variables individually and collectively showed a positive contribution to disability sport participation, hence, there is a need to consider them on the subject of disability sport participation in schools of individuals with special needs in Ibadan, Nigeria.