Motivational aspects and benefits from the basketball on wheels practice

Abstract

The adapted motor activity practice significantly increased in Brazil in the last decade, stimulated by both the idea of social inclusion and the greater popularity and dissemination of the paralimpic sports. As a result, the research on the subject has increased in the same proportion. This study aimed at investigating the motivational factors which lead handicapped people to play basketball on wheels, as well as analyzing the reflections of this practice concerning this population’s quality of life. Ten members of the Learning Basketball on Wheels Extension Project of the State University of Maringá city participated in the research. A questionnaire with twelve questions was used as a data collecting instrument. The results showed that 50% of the participants joined this type of activity to have a leisure/recreation activity. When classifying the motives a balance between intrinsic and extrinsic factors could be noticed. The subjects have also stated that with this project they had their self-esteem, motor ability and social relations improved.