title: Its okay to be a quad: wheelchair rugby players sense of community.
abstract: This study explored the social experience of wheelchair rugby from the perspective of the players. Eleven national level rugby players (10 males, 1 female with a mean age of 33 years) shared their experiences through the phenomenological methods of semistructured focus group interviews and artifacts. Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis (a) it's okay to be a quad, (b) don't tell us we can't, and (c) the power of wheelchair rugby. The athletes identified with a shared sense of community and the membership, fulfillment of need, influence, and shared emotional connections they used to authentically express themselves through their sport. The implications of the findings were interpreted within the theoretical context of psychological sense of community.
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gustafson
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thurmeier
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuttai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005538:Football; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010243:Paralysis / Q000523:psychology*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D014910:Wheelchairs; D055815:Young Adult