Expecting the best or settling for less: Examining philosophies and expectations of wheelchair and stand-up basketball coaches

The purpose of the study was to identify factors that influenced the philosophies and expectations of wheelchair and stand-up basketball coaches, and to detect similarities and differences between the two groups of coaches. The original research questions that focused primarily on differences amongst wheelchair coaches were refrained to focus more on comparisons between the wheelchair and stand-up coaches and the influence of sport ethic or disability stereotypes on thoughts of the coaches. The researcher used qualitative measures to study 22 wheelchair and 21 stand-up basketball coaches who represented youth, adult club, and college teams. Coaches took part in an interview, which was transcribed and analyzed using qualitative methods. Coaches also completed a written questionnaire, which was returned by 17 out of the 21 stand-up coaches and 18 out of the 22 wheelchair coaches. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and differences between the coaches were identified based on the results of t-tests.; The results are characterized by five general themes labeled: (a) coaches' philosophies about coaching, athletes, sport, and injured athletes; (b) coaches' expectations for themselves and their athletes; (c) coaches' perspectives about people and challenges in basketball; (d) coaches' backgrounds, experiences, education, and reasons for coaching; and (e) coaches' disability awareness. The wheelchair and stand-up coaches' philosophies concerning behaviors, priorities, on-court, benefits and lessons, and injury were very similar. The most significant differences concerned stand-up coaches' focus on performance versus wheelchair coaches' focus on the person. Both wheelchair and stand-up basketball coaches held similar expectations for their athletes. They expected hard-working, team focused, and committed athletes. An underlying difference between the coaches suggests that wheelchair coaches tend to push to the limits of athletes' goals, while stand-up coaches keep pushing until their own expectations are satisfied. Coaches' perspectives differed, as wheelchair and stand-up coaches view the sport through different lenses. Wheelchair coaches reported numerous challenges, yet the majority of their comments focused on the positive aspects of their sport and those involved. Stand-up coaches, even though they reported fewer challenges than wheelchair coaches, focused more on the negative aspects of their sport and athletes. The coaches also differed in their background experiences, as wheelchair coaches had more variety than the stand-up coaches in their experiences, how they began coaching, and their education. The last theme, disability awareness, suggests that coaches' exposure to people with disabilities did not influence their coaching philosophies and expectations. Coaches with and without exposure to people with disabilities prior to coaching had similar philosophies and expectations for their athletes. Results suggest that all wheelchair and stand-up coaches are more similar than different, and the sport ethic is more influential than disability stereotypes when wheelchair basketball coaches develop their philosophies and expectations for and about their athletes' abilities. According to the coaches in this study, the basketball court is a place where people with disabilities are treated the same as people without disabilities and disability status is not the focus.