Abstract
Wheelchair basketball is one of the most popular sport activities among persons with disabilities. The current study focuses on “reverse integration” (RI) groups of athletes with and without disabilities playing wheelchair basketball in Israel. A qualitative analysis approach was chosen to examine whether the able-bodied participants in RI wheelchair basketball training and competition identify their participation as a “serious leisure” (SL) activity, and to determine which additional insights could be gained about this activity from participants’ perspectives. Eight male able-bodied participants, who have taken part in three Israeli wheelchair basketball leagues (divisions), were interviewed. All eight participants in this study played longer than a year. The findings revealed support for the SL premise within all six SL criteria. Participation of our informants was categorized within the establishment and maintenance phases. All participants reported sustained perseverance in spite of having to deal with significant challenges, including the physical strain and mental difficulties associated with the game, coping with dual roles of participation as player and coach, and finally, having to face the same economical and social barriers typically reported by athletes with disability.
Wheelchair basketball has existed since the mid-1940s, primarily in the United States and later in Europe and throughout the world (Labanowich & Thiboutot, 2011). Today, wheelchair basketball is one of the most popular sport fields among people with disabilities. In 2010, up to 100,000 participants from 80 different countries were involved in this sport, and it is widely considered one of the most popular and alluring sports in the world of Paralympic games. Wheelchair basketball players present a variety of functional capabilities while sitting in a wheelchair, managed through a classification system (International Wheelchair Basketball Federation, 2014), as well as a mixture of those who have been disabled since early childhood and those who acquired the disability later in life. Nonetheless, because the number of children and youth with disability is not sufficient to guarantee the establishment of a normative sport development program and participation in disability-specific events such as wheelchair basketball, some countries—including Israel—are facing a situation in which most of the league players of wheelchair basketball are in their late 30s or older (Brittain & Hutzler, 2009; Radtke & Doll-Tepper, 2014). This challenge is especially typical in countries in which smaller populations or larger geographic dispersion exists, such as Canada, Sweden, and Norway (Balyi, 2001; Brittain & Hutzler, 2009; Hutzler, Chacham-Guber, & Reiter, 2013; Stafford, 2005).
One way of dealing with this situation has been the progressive inclusion of players without a disability into wheelchair basketball teams. This trend has been labeled “reverse integration” (RI) and was publicly discussed during the early 1990s (Brasile, 1990, 1992) in the United States as well as in Canada. RI of non-disabled also labeled able-bodied (AB) athletes (in this article, we prefer the term AB following the language recommendations of Peers, Spencer-Cavaliere, & Eales, 2014) into wheelchair basketball was considered as part of a broader strategy to integrate sports for athletes with and without disability (Canadian Wheelchair Sport Association, 1991, 1992). In RI, the majority of the participants are with disabilities and the minority are without. Interviews conducted by Preston (1990), a journalism student, with male and female wheelchair basketball players clearly demonstrated that the RI allowed for the forming of teams, whereas without it, there would be none. It was also evident that the addition of the athletes without disabilities expanded the range of social expectations and role models that the participants with disabilities had experienced in the past, thus enhancing the concept of team unity and team work. Also Brasile (1990), a basketball coach and scholar, claimed that in addition to enabling the structuring of teams, RI may encourage in the players with disability the development of a positive identity as an active basketball player compared with the narrative of a “disabled” person. This claim was harshly scrutinized by leaders of the American National Wheelchair Basketball Association, who opposed this integration, fearing that the AB athletes would override the athletes with disabilities and cause them to abandon the game (Labanowich, 1992).
However, further support for the social impact of reverse-integrated groups is revealed by the parents’ perspectives, reported by Kristen, Patriksson, and Fridlund (2003). These researchers highlighted three areas in which there was an apparent change among the sport participants: better overall health, a sense of belonging to a team, and the process of mastering a new athletic skill.
Lundberg, Zabriskie, Smith, and Barney (2008) examined the effects of a campus-wide intramural wheelchair sports program that included students without disabilities on participants’ attitudes toward people with disabilities. The sample consisted of 126 participants. A prospective pre–post design was used, indicating that there was a significant decrease in discomfort in participants’ interaction with people with disabilities after participation in the program. Although the authors of this study were interested in attitudes, other studies addressed participants’ perspectives with and without disabilities toward the integrated experience.
The perspective of participants with disabilities was described in a study by Spencer-Cavaliere and Peers (2011), where nine female wheelchair basketball players presenting a classifiable disability reported their experience and perspective of playing with and against AB wheelchair basketball participants. Their conclusion was that AB athletes were identified as fully legitimate insiders to the wheelchair basketball community.
The AB wheelchair basketball players’ perspective was explored within the responses of 20 wheelchair basketball participants who completed open-ended questionnaires, nine of them AB, including three females (Medland & Ellis-Hill, 2008). Three major themes were identified: the friendship and relatedness across the players with and without disability, their coping with unique physiological requirements and skilled wheelchair-related performance, and the joint strive to enhance the status of wheelchair sports. Although the authors of this study did not recognize a different perspective in participants with or without a disability, the specific point of view characterizing AB players who engage in RI wheelchair basketball has not yet been studied.
While conducting a formative research study on a RI basketball activity promoted in Israel through the “Sal-Gal” project, supported by the Fund for Demonstration Projects of the National Security Institute (Hayosh, Vogel, & Gindi, 2010; Hutzler, Chacham-Guber, Gindi, Vogel, & Hayush, 2011), Hayosh et al. concluded that this program had the potential of becoming a “serious leisure” activity among its participants, as suggested by Stebbins (1992, 2001). Although the value in the formation of serious leisure in adaptive sport in general, and specifically in wheelchair basketball players with disability, is well accepted (Heo, Lee, Lundberg, McCormick, & Chun, 2008), the formation of serious leisure in AB participants of a wheelchair basketball team, who have the opportunity to participate in many other team activities, is not commonly accepted (see, for example, Labanowich, 1992).
The “Serious Leisure Perspective”
The “Serious Leisure Perspective” is a theoretical framework that was developed by Stebbins (1992) to emphasize the definition of “serious leisure” and to differentiate it from “casual leisure” or “project-based leisure.”
Casual leisure is usually a pleasurable and somewhat inconsistent experience, from which the personal satisfaction extracted is spontaneous only. It lacks the expectation of developing certain capabilities, experiencing meaningful challenges, or gaining a sense of control over the continuity of the activity. Examples of casual leisure include passive entertainment (watching television, reading books, listening to music), active entertainment (games of chance, social games), friendly conversations, stimulation of the senses (food intake, witnessing nature), occasional volunteering (one-time help, writing letters), and enjoyable aerobic activity (Stebbins, 2007).
Project-based leisure is a complex rational leisure activity that occurs during a short term or at one time. During the activity, people who are involved take the responsibility to perform an obligation, such as walking along a national trail or organizing a social event. Benefits obtained from participating in this type of leisure are significant, especially in a social context, but they end after the completion of the project.
“Serious leisure (SL)” is defined as
the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer core activity that is highly substantial, interesting, and fulfilling, and where, in the typical case, participants find a career in acquiring and expressing a combination of its special skills, knowledge, and experience. (Stebbins, 1992, p. 3)
According to Stebbins (1992, 2007), it is important to distinguish between professionals who practice in a certain field and make a living from this practice, and participants in serious leisure activities (amateurs, hobbyists, and volunteers). Amateurs are those who are partially involved in an activity that others hold as a full-time professional practice; hobbyists are similar to amateurs in many ways, but their activity is not practiced in a professional field; volunteers are engaged in a practice that requires effort and dedication out of free will and generosity, for the good of others, with no expectation of financial or other rewards (Stebbins, 1985). It is quite common that a transition between participation in a professional activity and all types of serious leisure may occur. SL is characterized by six main criteria, as follows:
Perseverance. This refers not only to the amount of hours put into the activity, but rather persistency as an expression of a psychological need. Stebbins (1992, 2001) suggests that having positive feelings toward an activity improves the ability to persevere.
Following a leisure career. A leisure career is formed either from the development of achievements or from intense involvement in the field. Stebbins (1992) defines a serious leisure career as “the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer core activity that is highly substantial, interesting, and fulfilling and where, in the typical case, participants find a career in acquiring and expressing a combination of its special skills, knowledge, and experience” (p. 3). This process is characterized by different opportunities, turning points, and levels of achievement (Stebbins, 2001). According to Stebbins (1992), there are five stages in the development of an SL career: (a) Introduction—from the time of introduction to the field until the time the practice is rooted, (b) Development—the stage when interest in the field is deepened and practice becomes consistent and ritual, (c) Establishment—the stage when there is no further need to learn the basic knowledge of the activity, and the participant has full control over the activity. This is the stage when the amateur no longer sees himself or herself as a student, and may turn to professional opportunities in the field, (d) Maintenance—the stage when the career is in full bloom, and (e) Decline—usually as a result of mental or physical deterioration. It is impossible to define the different stages of career by length of time. The transition between each stage is individual, and there is always the possibility of overlapping between the different stages.
Personal effort. This refers to the substantial investment of knowledge, training, experience, or skills that are acquired especially for the activity.
Benefits gained to the individual from participating in the activity. Stebbins (1992, 2001) gives a list of continuous benefits as a result of practicing a leisurely activity seriously, and divides them into personal benefits and social benefits. Personal benefits are self-fulfillment, self-enrichment, self-expression, renewal, improvement of self-image, material products (in arts), satisfaction (momentary and lasting enjoyment), and financial rewards. Social benefits are social interaction, collectiveness, and the feeling of team success. Stebbins suggests that the benefits reaped from the participation in leisure activities are often the reason for choosing to join an activity.
Identification with the activity. According to Stebbins (1992, 2001), the formulation of a personal identity and social identity stems from the above five features. Stebbins states that this identity component may be primary for an individual, having even more significance than their professional role. In other words, there are those who feel that their leisurely practice defines who they are more so than their daily profession. It is important to note that Stebbins (2007) suggests that “serious leisure” includes all six of the features of SL, whereas “casual leisure” may include some but not all.
The development of a unique ethos, of belonging to a broader social world, not necessarily with clear boundaries but with a common interest among its members. The members share similar attitudes, practices, values, beliefs, and common goals, all of which contribute to the formation of the social world or the milieu with a unique and common ethos.
The purposes of the current study are to examine the perspectives of AB participants in RI wheelchair basketball training and competition, to determine whether their participation can indeed be termed a serious leisure activity, and to gain additional insights into this activity from the participants’ perspectives.
Method
Research Design and Approach
To determine whether the leisure participation of AB players in wheelchair basketball can be considered a “serious leisure” activity, a Deductive Qualitative Analysis (DQA) approach (Gilgun, 2004) was chosen. Qualitative methodology focuses on people’s interpretation of the world they live in and the narrative with which they choose to express their experiences, thoughts, and actions (Denzin & Lincoln, 2008b). “The socially situated researcher creates, through interaction and material practices, those realities and representations that are the subject matter of inquiry” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2008a, p. 45). A deductive approach is particularly useful when the aim is to test a previous theory in a different situation (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). It is an appropriate research methodology within the study of physical culture (Markula & Silk, 2011). In DQA, researchers start from a theory that guides their research, in our case, the SL perspective. Then hypotheses are driven, leading to operationalization of concepts—in our case, the appearance of the six criteria of SL in RI wheelchair basketball. This leads to a purposeful selection of respondents, design of the interview instrument, and collection of data and their analysis.
Participants
Purposive sampling was used, soliciting the most appropriate population for representing the culture or phenomenon being studied (Bernard, 2002). Eight male AB wheelchair basketball players who had taken part in three Israeli wheelchair basketball leagues (divisions) for a period between 1.5 and 18 years (M = 7.5; SD = 5 years) participated in the study. An overview of personal criteria across participants can be observed in Table 1. The choice to interview males only was due to the small number of female AB wheelchair basketball players in Israel. Two of the respondents also coach wheelchair basketball, but this employment was not their only employment or sole source of income. One participant was in the middle of getting his coaching certificate. Another respondent was part of a team that has been demonstrating the game in schools all over Israel for more than 5 years. All the respondents lived in the Central region of Israel. Two of the respondents were married with children, whereas the rest were single. Two of the respondents had an academic degree, and three were in the middle of their BA studies. One respondent was studying in a pre-military institution, and two were high school graduates. Interestingly, one of the respondents completed his BA in physical education and also taught physical education at an elementary school. Another respondent worked as a cycling instructor for people with disabilities. It is important to note that with most of the respondents, there was no apparent relationship between wheelchair basketball and their area of study or daily practice.
Personal Criteria of Interview Participants.
Note. WB = wheelchair basketball; PET = physical education teacher.
Instrument
In-depth interviews, a particularly useful method in ethnographic research fields, were used (Fontana & Frey, 2000), providing a significant asset for researchers to expose, express, and understand mind-sets, thoughts, and hidden insights of stake holders (Arksey & Knight, 1999). At the root of the in-depth interview lies the desire to understand the experience of others and the meaning they attribute to that experience. After acquiring Institutional Review Board ethical permission, head coaches’ permission, and informed consent from the participants, the interviews were pre-scheduled with each of the participants and were held at the sport center, according to participants’ request. All interviews were performed face-to-face and lasted from half an hour to an hour. A semi-structured procedure with open-ended questions was used to allow individuals to describe their experiences and express their views in their own terms, so that relevant issues that did not appear in the questionnaire would be included (Gomm, 2004). The following topics were discussed:
The choice of leisure—What were the participants’ motives for joining wheelchair basketball? And what are the motives for continuing the activity?
A look inside—What do the participants experience during participation in the wheelchair basketball game? What do they think of their participation? Does the new experience bring a kind of meaning into their lives, and if so, how does it affect them? Are the daily lives of the participants affected because of the participation in this leisure activity? Is there a (claimed or practiced) tendency to make changes in other areas of life (occupation, career) because of the participation in this leisure activity?
Social meeting—Did the decision to participate in wheelchair basketball include social calculations such as, what does my social environment think of wheelchair basketball? Did I join because of a certain person in my life, and why? How do social connections form, and what is the nature of the relationships between the research participants (without disabilities) and the players with disabilities? What meaning do I attribute to these relationships?
Satisfaction and rewards—What are the rewards from the game experience? Do the actual benefits received from participating in wheelchair basketball match the original motives? How does this leisure influence the participants and affect their lives?
Data Analysis
All the recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim into an electronic file. Each contained between 105 and 300 text lines. With the goal of determining whether the participation of AB players in wheelchair basketball may be considered a “serious leisure” activity, a DQA (Gilgun, 2004) was performed, based on the data derived from the eight transcribed interviews according to the six criteria outlined by Stebbins (1979, 1992, 2001) as features distinguishing SL from other kinds of leisure. The initial SL perspective served as a source of codes that the researchers used for analyzing the collected data. The viability and usefulness of the codes were tested against the data, and were subject to change and the addition of new codes when negative cases were encountered—that is, such cases where the data did not fit with the initial theory and new category codes had to be induced (Gilgun, 2004). The coding procedure was no different from the common practice of grounded theory-based coding, using open, axial, and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).
Results and Discussion
This DQA includes quotes and descriptions of the participants’ expressions regarding their engagement in wheelchair basketball, comparing the AB players’ perspectives in this study with wheelchair basketball players’ (with and without a disability) perceptions reported in other studies. While referring to the participants’ citations, interview and line numbers will be reported.
Perseverance With the Activity
Perseverance does not only refer to the number of hours spent in an activity, but rather the pursuit of the activity in spite of significant physical and/or psychological challenges (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Stebbins (1992, 2001) suggested that having positive feelings toward the activity can contribute to the willingness to persevere. The following statements clearly demonstrate positive feelings:
Wheelchair basketball started as something weird and turned into something inseparable from me . . . It’s something I can’t give up on, if it’s during my studies, my tests or exams, I wouldn’t leave it for that. (Interview 1, line 97) It’s a kind of experience, every time I come to Spivak (Sport Center’s name) and play with the team I enjoy it, that’s all there is to it. (Interview 2, line 70) I stay because I love the sport, I enjoy and fulfill myself there. Even if Dad stops playing, I’ll be there! (Interview 8, line 112)
The serious involvement in an organized field for a prolonged period of time is often associated with difficult moments. By accepting the difficulties as part of the whole activity and making the decision to continue persevering, the participants adopt a sense of determination accompanied by personal satisfaction that is felt toward their field of choice (Stebbins, 2001). Some of the players mentioned difficulties they had to deal with along the way, which were perceived as obstacles that were ultimately meant to empower them. Four types of difficulties challenging perseverance were derived and will be described in the following sections.
Physical difficulties, stemming from the wheelchair basketball game because of its demanding physical nature as a sport,
The wheelchair causes injuries to your hands during the game because when you need to stop the wheelchair, you actually use your hands. I used to come home with blisters and cuts but at some point your hands get used to it. (Interview 5, line 73)
Another participant added,
At the beginning it was very hard for me, there was even one time that I got upset during the game and left saying “I’m not coming back!” But I came back pretty quickly with renewed strength to come and do it. (Interview 3, line 101)
A fellow participant acknowledged the psychomotor aspect of wheelchair basketball as a dual-task activity, particularly for somebody who is trained to use his lower body to ambulate and maneuver:
There are many difficulties, first of all the wheelchair—it’s a cruel instrument. Physically, it’s not at all simple to control the ball and the wheelchair. It’s way more than just the usual expected injuries like cuts on your hands and wheelchair collisions. I remember at first feeling handicapped, the feeling of inability to control the wheelchair. I remember myself getting a pass and trying to move with my body but couldn’t—it was very strange. It’s hard because you think of the end of the game when you just get up—you don’t feel all this and trivial things suddenly become the opposite, “un-trivial.” As someone who used to dunk in basketball, suddenly I was limited with height. (Interview 2, line 152)
This line of thinking was echoed by another player, who explained the process of gradually getting accustomed to the unique wheelchair basketball requirements.
It’s hard to play wheelchair basketball professionally. As a person who lived his whole life running, to suddenly sit in a wheelchair was very strange for me. At the beginning it’s hard to get used to the fact that you are in a wheelchair . . . (Interview 5, line 65-68)
These quotes demonstrate the physical difficulties and complexity encountered by the AB players during wheelchair basketball training and playing. They have particularly emphasized the unique dual-task nature of this game in which very often, the same extremities need to be used to perform different tasks (e.g., wheeling and catching or throwing). Therefore, although none of the AB players directly said so, it would appear that the difficulty and complexity they encountered in trying to play wheelchair basketball gave them a new-found respect for the players with disabilities. In addition, it is likely that this personal exposure also gave them more respect to the adversities experienced when a person copes with daily activities while he or she uses a wheelchair.
Mental difficulties of the AB participants, resulting from being continuously exposed to participants with disabilities. One example was having to calculate the physical and emotional impact of the practice on the participants with disabilities, as indicated by one player:
There are certain things that are very difficult to see, like a player with both legs amputated “running” with his chair, getting jammed and thrown two meters away and then can’t get back to his wheelchair, or players that cry because it’s hard for them to lose—it’s not easy. (Interview 8, line 119-121)
The AB players have to consider the inferior performance of those with trunk and lower limb disabilities, while trying to optimize the game situation and remember to make sure that those with a significant disability participate in the game.
For example at the league games where it is important to win . . . it might be very important to him to prove himself; even though it’s hard for him to throw from far, he will still insist and try, and it feels like we get stuck on these things because each has his own story to deal with. (Interview 5, lines 65-68) You need to understand that I am “healthy” and not disabled, I play with people that are disabled or that went through traumas, accidents, and all kinds of things. Also, I need to show empathy to the players on my team and be more sensitive. They have gone through things and they come here so I need to be more considerate and put aside my usual concerns. As a strict coach, this is something I need to think about and it requires strength. (Interview 1, lines 193-197)
These mental experiences, which the AB participants had to encounter, are also reported in the study of Spencer-Cavaliere and Piers (2011), suggesting that the most important lesson they have learnt according to their team’s counterparts with disabilities was understanding the “off-court” issues relating to disabilities.
Dual role of player-coach
The last statement also sheds light on the duality of roles: player-coach experienced by some of the participants, as highlighted by another participant:
This year as a coach, except for the physical strain from the game itself, I need to think of tactics and other things like how to set up to the other teams . . . Sometimes it’s difficult mentally, because there are days that I don’t feel like practicing and you need mental strength to persevere and work out. (Interview 7, line 79)
Economical and social challenges
The fact that practicing wheelchair basketball as a serious leisure activity sometimes hindered the pursuing of the other daily vocational and social demands is demonstrated by several participants, as follows:
It’s hard to combine, for example, being a student and coming to play, or when I was in the army . . . I mean time wise, and it’s also something that has changed for me along the way. When I was in high school I was at Spivak a lot, 5 or 6 times a week, and then unfortunately it changed because there were lots of other things that were important to me. I hope it will always be there even if it’s in small portions. (Interview 2, line 195) There are days when I finish work at 6 in the evening after working from 7am and I’m tired but I go anyways and maybe give 80% instead of my usual 100%. There are also times when I am sick, but I go, because it’s enough that I don’t show up and then another won’t show up, and then there is no practice. (Interview 7, line 79) . . . I had a girlfriend at the time and after 17 days in the army base I came home and I needed to go to the game instead of going to see her. (Interview 5, line 36)
The tension during daily life, experienced by the players when having to choose between their serious leisure wheelchair basketball activity and the vocational or social roles, is not unique to the AB wheelchair basketball participants, and has already been expressed by elite Paralympic sport participants (Wheeler et al., 1999). However, they had to cope with the skeptical and not always supportive attitude of family members and friends who may have been concerned about the unusual type of leisure activity chosen by the participants. The interviews revealed that the respondents were able to deal with their social companions the least amount of tension. There are many ways in which the environment of serious leisure participants can offer support, whether it is psychological or financial support, or logistical arrangements (Stebbins, 1992). All of the respondents noted the importance of psychological support from their family and friends, primarily because the activity plays such a central and important role in their lives. Some even stated having family member join the activity as an indication of their support. One respondent said,
Now everyone really encourages me, but at first my Dad didn’t really like the fact that I joined my brother; it was difficult for him to understand my decision to play in a wheelchair. Later he became more used to it. My Mom is more supportive. (Interview 6, line 45) My family knows because I play with my Mom, my close friends know about it—I told them and explained that it’s mostly because of my Mom. (Interview 5, line 40) I have two disabled parents, both played wheelchair basketball for many years. My mom still plays today, so I grew up in this sport. (Interview 7, line 21)
These statements reveal that social support may be an issue, and it takes time until the surrounding social environment accepts the uncommon practice of playing in a wheelchair. There appears to be a barrier of social ignorance, which adds to the more common hardships experienced by any dedicated athlete.
The Leisure Career
In the following section, the development of the SL career will be illustrated along the stages, as represented in the participants’ words.
The initial introduction
All the respondents reproduced a precise picture of their first encounter with wheelchair basketball, and described it as an important factor that influenced their decision to join the activity. The following are examples of the introduction to the sport. One participant reported that his initial encounter was while watching a wheelchair basketball game live:
One day I came to watch a game and I was blown away, I couldn’t believe there was such a thing, where people with disabilities play in wheelchairs at such a level. I imagined that at the end of the game they wouldn’t stay in their game wheelchairs but would transition back to their usual assistance, whether it was their regular daily wheelchairs, crutches, or prosthetics. There were those who got up, opened the strap and walked . . . when I asked I was told that not all the players are disabled, and there are also those with minimal disabilities who can walk regularly. That’s when I realized how interesting this is. (Interview 1, line 66)
Another participant reported attending practice sessions of youth and young adult wheelchair basketball teams.
I came to see the integrated wheelchair team practice—I watched them and was intrigued; they were looking for “healthy” (the common expression for AB in local language) participants and I wanted to join. I started and in the beginning I was doing it for the fun of it and saw that I was picking it up and that it was relatively easier for me and they liked me . . . and I liked them. (Interview 3, line 27)
In some cases, there was an external force that influenced and pushed for the introduction to wheelchair basketball, whether it was a parent with a disability who brought his or her child to the team practice or a brother with a disability who encouraged his brother to come and try “just one game.” In most cases, these influences were from within the wheelchair basketball world. Support of this kind can greatly influence the initial choice to join the activity (Stebbins, 1992).
My Mom really wanted me to come and see how it was and maybe join. One time I came to a game that she played in and I liked it, and it was also really good for me to see how it fulfilled my Mom. (Interview 5, line 25) Half a year after my brother joined “Sal-Gal” (the name of the reverse integrated wheelchair basketball activity) he made me come and try it just once, and since then I play as well. (Interview 6, line 25) My Dad has been playing for years. He’s been in the field since he was 13 or 14 . . . When I was 16 I went to the gym to say hi because I knew that on Sundays and Wednesdays my Dad has practice and if I’m in the area I go and say “hi” . . . I get there and I see they are only 9 players—they are missing one to play a game. The coach threw me the ball and said “listen we’re short one so sit and do it for a bit . . . ” I sat and played that one game with them and it was fun. He told me “listen come by again, sometimes we’re missing a player”—and then I started practicing and practicing and practicing until the year was over and they asked me to join them and play regularly. (Interview 8, line 22)
Development
This stage occurs when the interest in the field is growing and the practice becomes consistent and routine. As revealed in the interviews, the length of the development stage varies between the participants. In this stage, the players transform the activity of wheelchair basketball into a hobby, meaning they deepen their interest in the activity and become a regular part of the social world network associated with the activity. According to Stebbins (1992), this process is composed of different stages, beginning from sporadic participation in the activity to increasing the level of involvement and taking part in the activity on a regular basis, eventually becoming a committed participant in the games and practices.
Establishment
This stage is characterized by the distinction between the amateurs and the professionals. From the interviews, it became evident that some participants decided to develop their activity in wheelchair basketball and train professionally, and others chose to play on a professional team but not for financial reasons. In both cases, they did not define wheelchair basketball as their profession, because for most of them, that was not the purpose of their participation. The transformation of the wheelchair basketball practice into a profession may be expressed in two separate ways: coaching wheelchair basketball teams around the country, or playing in the elite professional league for wheelchair basketball. As stated earlier, four participants had been involved in some professional activity.
I began as a regular basketball coach and at some point I gave that activity up, and decided that I am only training wheelchair basketball. (Interview 4, line 39)
When asked to state their opinion toward wheelchair basketball as a profession, some could not give a direct answer and some were still debating about it.
The guys here do it for fun, just like me, from the same motives of enjoyment, love for the game, and love for one another in this framework. To turn it into something professional, like working as a coach, I don’t think that’s my direction—I see myself continuing as a player just as long as I can!. (Interview 2, line 207) At the moment I am a student at “Ariel,” but I come from a basketball background and I’m doing my coaching course right now, and actually the thought did cross my mind that if I find 5 or 6 students with disabilities from Ariel Ill create a team, for sure. On one hand I don’t want to disconnect with this activity, but on the other hand it’s going to be difficult for me to continue coming to Rishon Lezion to play the games with them, as my studies are pretty intense. (Interview 8, line 155)
Maintenance
This stage demonstrates the highlight of the SL career. Most of the respondents appear to be at the stages of establishment or maintenance of the SL career. Most of them have been playing for more than 8 years and have excellent control over the game. Some of them are involved in the sport as a second profession and receive financial compensation. Some are still debating whether to turn it into a profession, whereas others have made the decision to keep wheelchair basketball only as an SL activity.
I will never be a coach, I’m like everyone else! I will remain a player; I will fight with all my strength to help the disabled as much as I can. (Interview 3, line 196)
Career end (the decline)
This phase can be a result of transforming the activity into a profession, on retirement, or during a change of career. According to content analysis of Paralympic elite athletes, the end of their careers is often caused by a severe injury or re-classification, a reduction in the success rate, or a conflict with the coach or team members (Hutzler & Bergman, 2011; Wheeler et al., 1999). However, no respondent suggested being in this stage. This may be due to the fact that all the respondents were still active in wheelchair basketball. Future studies should interview individuals who terminated their participation prematurely due to specific reasons for discontinuing the activity.
Significant Effort
According to Stebbins (2001), the SL participants are mainly characterized by their striking inclination to invest their own personal efforts into the activity. This quality is essential to gain the knowledge, training, and skills needed to practice the activity. Throughout the interviews, there were examples showing just how much effort the participants had invested and continue to invest in the activity. This effort goes way beyond the strenuous physical demands that are required in any competitive sport, but rather is exhibited by the amount of time the players invest, the number of hours dedicated to practices, games, and even activities revolving around the game (i.e., travel time to games or tournaments). It is important to note that the investment of personal effort in SL pursuits also includes overcoming various difficulties, as has been clarified in the previous sections. The following citations demonstrate the athletes’ efforts:
I always have compromising to do. I give up family time to go to practice or for games. I play more than once or twice a week and I’ve given up a lot along the way, but for me it’s not giving up anymore, it’s part of my life schedule . . . (Interview 7, line 37) There were instances, for example, when I had a test the next day and the game was an away game in Haifa . . . I would skip about a half a day of school. I had to plan my time accordingly, and I would plan to make it work. There is no way I would give up on the game, plus my coach would “kill” me if I didn’t show up. (Interview 2, line 81)
A small number of respondents reported having invested their own money for travel costs or game equipment such as guards and protectors.
From a financial aspect, this year we travelled to Ramat Gan four times a week and the costs were my own. (Interview 6, line 92) Sometimes there’s equipment that we need to buy, even though the clubs usually invest in the players if they are important to them. (Interview7, line 76)
Another aspect of personal effort invested by the respondents is recruiting new players to maintain and encourage the activity of this field.
Today when I see the 60-year-old players on the team, I don’t know how much longer they will be players on the court, and somewhere I do want the club to keep running so I do see myself bringing in new people, I tell myself that I don’t want to see this club fail. When I meet people on the street with a disability I give them my number and I invite them to join this sport. (Interview 8, line 149)
Continuous Benefits
As mentioned by Stebbins (2001), to understand the meaning of SL, it is necessary to understand the motivation accompanying it. In every serious field of activity, there are discomforts (tension, disappointments, etc.) for the participants to face. Parallel to these, there is a variety of continuous benefits as a result of the activity. The motivation to remain in the activity originates from the feeling that the benefits override the discomforts. Stebbins (1992, 2001) states a list of continuous benefits as a result of practicing “serious leisure.” In the interviews conducted, the respondents were asked about their reasons for initiating in the activity and the benefits derived as a result of their prolonged participation in the field. The respondents were not given a list of reasons such as those presented above, and were not asked to rank the importance of the benefits. We identified two sets of benefits.
Personal benefits
According to Stebbins (1992), self-enrichment is the strongest and most common benefit reported in studies. Stebbins also points out that the benefit of self-expression is particularly of high importance for those involved in the arts and sports. In the field of wheelchair basketball, most of the respondents stated the most important benefit was being connected to the challenge and satisfaction of the game. The following quotes demonstrate this perception.
The satisfaction that comes with winning exists everywhere, but the satisfaction of working as a team . . . seeing all the players with disabilities on the team despite their difficulties, and how they overcome them, it just inspires me and motivates me—first of all to see things in proportion, and secondly it gives you strength to overcome the difficulties you feel. There is a sense of satisfaction when you contribute, whether if it’s the children feeling happy when they are involved or when they win, or whether it’s me helping my team win. I feel satisfied when they are satisfied—it sounds funny but that’s it, that’s exactly it. They are the ones giving me my strength. (Interview 2, line 241) My fulfillment now is to work with the young players. This year I will be with the young professional league and I also work with the team of (up to) 22-year–olds, and it’s a real challenge and fulfillment. It’s bringing everything I know and have learned over the years and raising a new generation of kids, and it’s fun. It’s also beyond the sport and the challenge—it’s beyond just being an athlete. (Interview 7, line 102)
One of the respondents described his participation in wheelchair basketball a “constant victory”:
. . . In basketball for the disabled it never matters if you win or lose, you win! It doesn’t matter what you did . . . you won it all, you beat the stigma that’s been labeled on the disabled, you beat yourself with your healthy body sitting in the wheelchair saying “there, I can, he can . . . ” we all play together. (Interview 3, line 165)
In accordance with Stebbins’ claim that serious leisure participants are less concerned with the financial benefits, the respondents who are professionally involved in coaching wheelchair basketball do not recognize money as the main object.
Of course I’m glad I can coach wheelchair basketball and also provide for my family because of it, but it also gives me satisfaction and so many things beyond that. Even if I’m told I can’t work here anymore, I will continue playing. (Interview 4, line 107)
Social benefits
As reflected in their interviews, all the participants perceive the wheelchair basketball sport as a collective experience. Because the practices and games are all performed in groups, the reference is mainly toward group benefits. The respondents mentioned that the main benefits derived from the participation in wheelchair basketball are the social interaction and the sense of belonging. Many of the respondents created social bonds with the players with disabilities on their teams. These connections were also transferred outside the practices and games, and often act as a support system for the participants without disabilities.
For me it’s a kind of family . . . it’s unbelievably fun, especially when it’s with my Dad. It gives me a great feeling of satisfaction. Like any other regular competition, there are no discounts, I’m in a wheelchair so I’m like everyone else, and we are all equal. (Interview 8, line 37) I have a lot of friends with disabilities that I met in basketball. Some of these friends are more my friends than the “healthy” (AB) ones. I have more friends with disabilities than friends without. (Interview 3, line 133) I stay because of the activity itself and the people I love . . . it’s fun for me to come to practice, it’s fun to come and see these people, it’s fun to travel for games. (Interview 1, line 186)
Most of the respondents mentioned an additional benefit of participating in wheelchair basketball—namely, the sense of a collective contribution. The desire to win as a team and step up a league, or take the championship as a team, drives them to continue being part of the activity and “give it all they can” to succeed.
The thought that the team will reach the higher league and I will go back to the 3rd league always pushed me forward. My desire as a “healthy” (AB) player is to help get them to the next league and have them say “thank you for all you’ve done but you can no longer play here” and go back to the 3rd league with another group. (Interview 3, line 180) . . . In wheelchair basketball you fight to have all the players on the court and no one sitting out, because you know that for some, basketball is their life. I am there for them, we play together, and we win together and do it all together. (Interview 3, line 150)
This benefit was mainly expressed when the respondents were asked to describe a particular meaningful experience from their participation in wheelchair basketball. The following are quotes from the experiences of the respondents, exemplifying the importance of collective contribution and achievement:
I was in the army, and I like mentioned earlier I only came for the championship games. . . . I haven’t touched a ball, I’m rusty, and the Beer Sheva (city name) team we are playing is amazing, probably the best in the league. Everyone knew it would be a miracle if we won; the chances were close to nothing. So the finals were two weeks away and I’ve barely touched a ball. By chance I was out of the base on weekends at that time so the second I got home from the base my Dad would take the keys to the gym, pick me up in my uniform, put me in the wheelchair and we practiced for those 2 or 3 weeks. A day before the game I had a military activity and didn’t sleep, I tried to explain to my commander that tomorrow is the final game and I need to leave, but he said I had to participate in the night activity so I did. I told my Dad I would leave in the morning. The day of the game, they sent someone at noon to pick me up from the base and bring me home; I ate, took a nap, we got to the game and won. We won the championship game, I played well. Because of the whole feeling of team accomplishment, it was a great experience. (Interview 8, line 63) One of the most enjoyable and special experiences I had was my first overseas tournament in Italy two or three years ago, with my basketball team from Spivak in Ramat Gan. We went to compete in the tournament . . . it was the first time I played against top players from Italy and Germany, and that’s the top. We were three players without disabilities, aside from myself, and we were all excited. First of all we won the tournament in first place and it was really fun to play against the top-level players and win. And the whole week there with the team—I had a great time. (Interview 1, line 150)
These descriptions depict the bonding experienced by the participants with the “authentic” wheelchair players with disability within the unity of the wheelchair basketball game. Social support and friendship or group cohesion perspectives have been reported in previous studies by wheelchair athletes, with and without disabilities, as being an important element of their sport activity (Martin, 2009; Martin & Mushett-Adams, 1996; Martin & Smith, 2002; Medland & Ellis-Hill, 2008; Shapiro & Martin, 2010) as well as by AB basketball players (e.g., Sindik & Missoni, 2013).
Unique Ethos
According to Stebbins (1979, 1992, 2001), a central component of the ethos of SL is the special social world that is developed around the activity as a result of prolonged participation in the field. All the players stated that their family and friends come to watch their games. There are also those in the crowd who are basketball players with and without disabilities who come to enjoy the game. One participant emphasized,
[My family, friends and close ones]—they totally support me! They also come to watch the games.
Answering the interviewer’s question, “How long did it take for them to understand or get used to it?” He answered,
Look, they can see from my Facebook pictures, things I post about games and other things, my pictures with other players with disabilities, they learned and asked to watch the games, to come and try it out . . . they didn’t know this world but the moment they were exposed to it and saw that people with disabilities can do just as much as they can, it attracted them. (Interview 3, line 79)
Other participants added further insights:
Today, first of all, all my close friends know. I don’t go and tell everyone but whoever is close enough to me—my girlfriend, my family—they all know and they all come to watch me play. (Interview 2, line 92)
Some of the respondents were adamant about recruiting people without disabilities to join the activities, illustrating their devotion and activity in their social identity, whether they were aware of it or not.
Let me tell you that I have a wheelchair at home and sometimes when I can’t make it to the club for a while or if I’m injured I just take my chair to a neighborhood court and start shooting hoops, to practice and also to expose the sport a little more. People see me holding my head up high and say “that guy is not normal, what is he doing here?” They ask me why I do it. I answer that I am part of a team, a team that plays with athletes with disabilities in wheelchairs . . . and I invite them to come watch a game and maybe in the future to join the game. (Interview 3, line 201)
These statements highlight the importance of the social world of wheelchair basketball within the participant’ lives (Unruh, 1980). The magnitude of this particular social world and its impact on identity formation signify the SL experience, although all participants also have also taken part in additional social worlds, such as family, army, work, and studies.
Identity
According to Stebbins (1992, 2001), this last characteristic is formed as a result of the other five. The main idea of the activity, the typical lifestyle associated with the activity, and the relationships built around the practice create the basis for individual and social identity. From the interviews, it seems that the respondents clearly identify with the wheelchair basketball activity, and some even choose to define themselves through the practice. This was illustrated by the descriptions the respondents chose to define the strong connection between themselves and wheelchair basketball, and between their inherent self-perception and who they strive to be.
. . . Basketball is sort of inseparable from me . . . I mean I can’t live without playing . . . this wheelchair is like a contagious virus, the moment you sit down you don’t want to get up, because it’s really fun. (Interview 1, line 85) I feel like it’s a part of me, it’s also a sport and it’s always healthy to be active, it’s the environment, the friends, also the challenge—it’s all of it together. (Interview 5, line 131)
These descriptions express the importance of wheelchair basketball as a fundamental component of the respondents’ identities. The general impression from the interviews is that the participants are extremely enthusiastic about wheelchair basketball in all its aspects. There is a great sense of pride that they do not hide, mainly because of the importance of this unique activity for participants without disabilities in Israel. Some respondents did, however, mention that it took time for them to understand the importance of telling new people about their activity in this special sport.
I didn’t always like to talk about it . . . because the initial response from people was—“Why?. And then you need to start explaining . . . usually I wouldn’t get into it but then I realized it’s a shame, that actually I should be doing the opposite. I realized this sometime before I enlisted in the army—that there is nothing to hide, on the contrary I should be talking about it. (Interview 2, line 88)
The expressions of the respondents, as presented in the previous sections, illustrate the broad influence of their participation in RI wheelchair basketball on their individual and social identity formation. The players without disabilities adopted a lifestyle where wheelchair basketball became a central part of their lives and they chose this activity to express to the world their personal sport identity. This appears to be the first evidence supporting the general impact of wheelchair basketball as an SL activity on participants without a disability. This finding is important, because, it could strengthen the intention to incorporate RI wheelchair basketball within frameworks (such as high schools or universities) where individuals with disability may not have enough quantity to form this SL activity and may benefit from enjoying it together with their AB peers.
Limitations
This study was based on eight respondents, which might limit the ability to generalize the research findings. It is crucial to examine a greater number of participants without disabilities in wheelchair basketball to properly interpret the conclusions that arose in this study.
Summary
This study examined whether and how AB RI wheelchair basketball participants identify their sport participation as an SL activity. Our findings revealed support for this premise within all SL criteria. All eight participants in this study had played longer than a year, and their participation could be categorized within the establishment and maintenance phases. All participants reported sustained perseverance in spite of having to deal with significant challenges, including the physical and mental challenges associated in the game, coping with dual roles of participation as player and coach, and finally, having to face the same economical and social barriers typically reported by athletes with disability. We did not reveal any differences in the SL experiences between participants who had previous exposure to disability in their family and those (Interviews 2-4) who have had their major exposure during the wheelchair basketball activity. It appears that regardless their background, AB wheelchair basketball players share the SL culture of this game.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.