Dignity for all through sports

Our U.S. Department of State Sports Diplomacy Division—housed in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)—taps into the power of sports to open doors in hard-to-reach places, and engages communities at the grassroots level. We know that sports can be a strategic platform to champion our foreign policy priorities including conflict resolution, gender equality, health & wellness, and the theme of this article: disability rights.

The Sports Diplomacy Division serves as the linchpin between American sports entities and U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world to manage four pillars: Sports Envoys, Sports Visitors, the International Sports Programming Initiative, and the Global Sports Mentoring Program (GSMP: espnW and GSMP: Sport for Community). 

Every day of every year, disability rights lead as a priority for the U.S. Department of State and our bureau supports programs that spread global lessons of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). With the ADA’s 30^th anniversary this July, we continue to celebrate this national U.S. civil rights legislation banning discrimination against people with disabilities.

The ADA—in tandem with other disability rights legislation—has led to the inclusion of people with disabilities in all areas of life, including sports. While we still have hurdles to overcome in the United States, we seek change so that people with disabilities enjoy dignity and inclusion on an equal basis with others. Our office believes that disability sports showcase the importance of the ADA and maintain its momentum to promote accessibility.

Regardless of region or pillar, ADA lessons are embedded in all of our sports programs. We include an experiential disability sports component and ADA sessions in every exchange, whether or not adaptive sports and disability rights are the central themes. International and American participants often describe trying wheelchair rugby or unified Special Olympics basketball as the most memorable of activities.

One program explicitly focused on disability sports is the GSMP: Sport for Community. This five-week mentorship matches international leaders working in disability sports with professionals from U.S. organizations in this field.  With the University of Tennessee as our partner, participants are coached in their development of action plans that increase sports opportunities for people with disabilities in their home countries.

Per an international GSMP delegate: “Being exposed to disability sports in the U.S. and learning about the ADA was a big lesson. Sport is a powerful way for people to show their abilities and get out into society, it’s how we get better as a community.” Listen to Marcos Lima, a blind advocate in Brazil, share his story.

Our Sports Diplomacy Division also works with U.S. Embassies on special initiatives related to disability rights. Leveraging the Paralympics or Special Olympics is often seen as more of a public diplomacy priority than spotlighting the Olympics or other mega-sporting events.

Challenges

ECA exchange programs for international participants often require English skills. This requirement can hold back participation by persons with disabilities who do not have equal opportunities for English training. To address this issue, we offer sports-based programs that do not require English and provide foreign language and sign language interpretation.

With sign language interpretation, we have learned that even individuals from the same country or region may use different sign languages. Hence, we plan in advance so that interpretation from American Sign Language to other sign language(s) is as fluid as possible.

Possibly the most prevailing—albeit less tangible—challenges are misperceptions that people with disabilities cannot get in the game. Participation in sports is a concrete way to prove otherwise. Just as a young person can score in wheelchair basketball, so too can this person reach their full potential in school and the workplace.

In order to address misperceptions, our Paralympic Sports Envoy John Register underscores the importance of emphasizing that inclusion benefits everyone. Learn more from John Register and read a report that outlines how disability inclusion enhances productivity.

The key to success

To share lessons of the ADA with international exchange participants, we rely on the expertise of American organizations and individuals across the country. We find that involving disability serving organizations and people with disabilities in design, implementation, and follow-up is an effective way to lead by example and communicate the hurdles and triumphs of inclusion in the United States.

We always ask delegates with disabilities to offer suggested improvements—which propels us toward more of a “human centered design” approach in planning and implementing our programs.

The impact of COVID-19

Due to COVID-19, we re-designed our 2020 disability sports programs as virtual exchanges and have been enthused by the bonds that we can still build through technology. Relatedly, we believe that innovation and technology present opportunities for the future of disability sports. From experiences, we know that adaptive and innovative technologies like racing wheelchairs and tandem bikes level the playing field, and remote video chats and on-line networks open opportunities for the future of disability sports.

Resources   

Want to know more about us? Here are some resources:

• A recording from our Sports Diplomacy Division’s collaboration with Laureus Sport for Good USA during which Ann Cody of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor's Office of International Disability Rights made remarks 
• We also share a follow-on collection of resources from the event   
• Lastly we flag our GSMP “Do It Yourself” series by the University of Tennessee on adaptive sports equipment

Trina Bolton is a program officer at the U.S. Department of State Sports Diplomacy Division