Ohio Inclusive Sports Training Implementation Guide

The following resources may be useful in making the case to your leadership on why including youth with disabilities in school sports and physical activity is important and what makes a successful program. 

• Ohio Inclusive Sports Assessment - Summary
• 2023 Inclusive Sports for Ohio Youth with Disabilities - Statewide Needs Assessment
• Inclusive Sports in Ohio - Pillars of Inclusion
• Inclusive Sports in Ohio - What Makes it Hard
• Inclusive Sports in Ohio - What Schools Can Do Better
• Inclusive Sports in Ohio - What is Working

The following example PowerPoint presentation provides a template for how communities can share the benefits of inclusive sports, the need for inclusive sports, and provide information about local training opportunities available. This can teach stakeholders about the need for new inclusive sports programs and recruit participants into your training program. 

• Example inclusive sports webinar slides

This recruitment email and flyer provide a template of how to recruit community members to participate in your inclusive sports training activities.

• Example recruitment email
• Example flyer

Our online Inclusive Sports Coaching training is freely available for anyone to complete. It is comprised of several lecture style videos, recorded panel discussions, blog style posts, and many resources on including youth with disabilities in sports and physical activities tailored for K-12 coaches and physical education teachers. 

• Inclusive Sports Coaching for K - 12 Training

Template In-Person Skills Training Agenda

This in-person skills training agenda provides a template for how to structure a half-day, in-person skills training. It includes content you may want to consider for your own skills training. It also provides an example of the order and timing of activities that we found to be effective for participants in our pilot testing.

• Template in-person inclusive sports skills training agenda

Example Facilitation Guide

Wondering how to manage the logistics of the in-person training day? This template facilitation guide is an example to help your training run smoothly.

• Example in-person inclusive sports training facilitation guide

Equipment Show and Tell

As part of our in-person training, our trainers demonstrated different types of adaptive equipment for a variety of sports and physical activities, including homemade equipment made from PVC pipes and pool noodles. Alternatively, to borrow equipment for your event, you can work with local adaptive sports organizations and disability serving organizations. To procure equipment for this part of our training, we utilized organizations such as Easter Seals, The Bridge Adaptive Sports and Recreation, and ESPY Adaptive Sports Complex, as well as our trainer's own equipment they made or purchased.

Example Station Rotation Activities

A major activity of our in-person training involved participants rotating through several stations to practice their skills in adapting a variety of different sports and physical activities with our expert trainers and asking questions. These stations were one of the most valuable aspects of our in-person training. The template below provides an example of different stations along with descriptions that you may want to use in your own training. Our stations were designed to give coaches and physical education teacher participants a kaleidoscope of different ways to adapt a variety of activities. We selected stations based on known community needs and interests with different sports and activities and based on the expertise of our trainers. These stations emphasized experiential learning for the participants. The purpose was for participants to practice how they might approach adapting the different activities at each station and get feedback from the station leader.

• Example station rotation description handout

Example Handouts

As part of our in-person training, we provided participants with several helpful handouts. See the documents below for ideas of resources you may want to share with participants during your training.

• Tips on Modifying Activities Handout
• Community Health Inclusion Index Activity Shopping List Handout
• National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability Activity and Adaptation Cards 

Example Evaluation

Wondering how to collect information to improve your training and share the impact of your training with your leaders? Below is our post-training evaluation survey with sample questions.

• Example post-training evaluation

Recommendations

For a successful in-person training, we recommend the following:

• Ensure that athletes and/or coaches with disabilities are involved in both the planning and delivery of your training.
• Partner with expert trainers in inclusive and adaptive sports.
• Know your community of coaches and physical education teachers and what types of skills they most need training on, then tailor your training agenda to meet their needs; a short survey to your audience can help you find out what they need.
• Allow participants to submit panel discussion questions before the training to allow anyone who is shy to get their questions answered. Questions received in advance can also be shared with your trainers to help them prepare.
• Don’t have a venue for an in-person training? Consider reaching out to local community centers or adaptive sports organizations to discuss partnership opportunities to offer the training at their facility.