Presented in Partnership with: The 2023 National Coaching for Para Sport Summit
Session Objectives:
- Understand the impacts of enlightened ableism in sport coaching
- Reflect on how disability is currently addressed in coach education
- Consider the potential of an infusion approach to coach education for progressive acceptance and disability inclusion
Dr. Robert Townsend is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching and Pedagogy at the University of
Waikato. His primary interest is in coaching and coach development, with a particular focus on
disability sport. Rob is a former high performance coach in disability sport, and currently heads
up the Disability, Sport and Active Recreation Research group at the University of Waikato
which focuses on developing programmes of research in partnership with the disability sport
sector, including organisations such as Sport New Zealand. He is a member of the ICCE Para
coach working group, providing consultancy to the European Paralympic Committee and
Paralympics New Zealand on coaching and coach development. Rob is also the Oceania
representative for the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity and an invited
member of the VIRTUS scientific committee.