Psychosocial factors and performance in paralympic football: A pilot study
Keywords:
football, disability, performance, motor coordinationAbstract
Introduction. Inclusion in Paralympic football requires training and competition settings that promote active participation, learning, and fairness. This pilot study explored the relationship between technical/motor performance indicators and psychosocial factors, within an internal level-based grouping system.
Methods. 31 male athletes with disabilities (mean age = 27.64 ± 8.38 years) from an amateur sports club were followed across two seasons (2020–2021; 2021–2022); 14 athletes participated in both seasons. Assessment included a field-test battery (with and without ball) and an exploratory staff-rated questionnaire (“Athlete Identikit”) covering sport-specific, motor, and psychological domains. Group differences (competitive, pre-competitive, promotional) were tested using Kruskal–Wallis analyses and associations via Spearman correlations.
Results. Between-group differences emerged primarily in staff ratings, especially in motor and psychological domains. Differences in motor tests were less consistent, with a tendency toward clearer separation in ball-based tasks.
Conclusions. Combining structured staff observation with objective field measures may improve transparency and fairness in internal grouping of athletes with disabilities in football settings. Future studies should define grouping criteria a priori and include larger samples and match-based performance indicators.
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