The governance of disability sport is a complex and evolving area. In particular, the passage of the Stevens Amendment of 1998 altered the responsibilities of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in terms of its relationship to disability sport, specifically Paralympic sport. Now the USOC, along with the various national governing bodies (NGBs) and disabled sports organizations (DSOs), is grappling with the implementation of the Stevens Amendment. The policy implications of this legal mandate to be more inclusive of athletes with disabilities are unclear, as Congress did not specify how the act should be implemented. This article provides background information on disability sport governance and presents the legal and policy implications of the Stevens Amendment for the various sport governing bodies.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Beaver, D. P. (1998). A coming of age—Sports for athletes with disabilities and the amateur sports act? Palaestra, 14(4), 5-6 .
2.
DePauw, K., & Gavron, S. (1995). Disability and sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics .
3.
Fay, T. G. (1999). Race, gender and disability. A new paradigm toward full participation and equal opportunity in sport. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts—Amherst.
4.
Hums, M. A. (1995). Marketing the Paralympics: Increasing visibility for athletes with disabilities . Proceedings of the Third Annual European Congress on Sport Management, pp. 346-356 . Budapest, Hungary.
5.
Hums, M. A. (1996). Increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities through sport and adapted physical activity . Proceedings of the Second European Conference on Adapted Physical Activity and Sports: Health, Well-Being and Employment, pp. 23-28 . Belgium.
6.
Hums, M. A., & Fay, T. G. (1995). Who owns “The Triumph of the Human Spirit?”: The legal battle over Blaze . Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, 5, 95-103 .
7.
Hums, M.A., & Moorman, A.M. (2000). Integration of Paralympic athletes into national sports organizations: Selected comparative models [Abstract] . Proceedings of the 8th Congress of the European Association for Sport Management, San Marino, pp. 152-154 .
8.
Hums, M. A., & Moorman, A. M. (2001). Women working in sport for people with disabilities: Career paths and challenges . Proceedings of the International VISTA ‘99 Conference on Sport for People with Disabilities, pp. 655-668 . Germany.
9.
Hums, M. A., Moorman, A. M., & Wolff, E. (2000, March). The inclusion of the Paralympics in the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act: Legal and policy implications for integration of athletes with disabilities into the United States Olympic Committee . Paper presented at the 13th Annual Conference of the Society for the Study of Legal Issues in Sport and Physical Activity, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
10.
Michaelis, V.(1999a, November 4). Disabled athlete sues USOC. The Denver Post, p. D4.
11.
Michaelis, V. (1999b, December 7). NGB chief: Integrated disabled a wrong move. The Denver Post, p. D2.
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (1998, July 28). Press release: Mark-up scheduled for tomorrow. U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Agenda for July 29, 1998 regarding S. 2119, Olympic and Amateur Sports Act Amendments of 1998. Retrieved February 2, 2000, from www.senate.gov/-commerce/press/105-276.htm
20.
Wolff, E. A. (1998). Status of the seven national Disabled Sports Organizations in the United States and recommendations for the future. Unpublished manuscript, Brown University .
21.
Wolff, E. A. (1999, August/September). Inclusion and integration of sport opportunities for the disabled into non-disabled sport organizations . Paper presented at the International VISTA ‘99 Conference on Sport for People with Disabilities, Cologne, Germany.
22.
Wolff, E. A., Fay, T., & Hums, M. A. (2000). Inclusion and integration of sport for athletes with disabilities within amateur sports organizations: Findings and recommendations concerning the United States Soccer Federation. Unpublished manuscript, Brown University .
23.
Wright, G. (1999, November 5). USOC and IOC named in disabled employee’s suit. USA Today, p. 13C.
