Paralympic Athlete Retention as a Governance Challenge: A Community-Focused, Practice-Informed Analysis

Abstract

Athlete retention in Paralympic sport is frequently framed as an individual-level issue related to motivation, resilience, or performance outcomes. Such perspectives, however, overlook the systemic and governance-related conditions that shape athletes’ continued engagement over time. The purpose of this study is to reconceptualize Paralympic athlete retention as a governance and system-design challenge, with particular attention to community embeddedness, organizational continuity, and the management of critical transition points. The study adopts a practice-informed sport management approach, integrating peer-reviewed literature identified through an ELICIT-assisted search process with documented applied practice derived from conference presentations on community-focused Paralympic sport delivery. The analytical interpretation focused on identifying recurring system-level retention patterns rather than on individual experiences. The findings indicate that sustained athlete engagement is strongly associated with stable governance arrangements, coherent organizational roles, and the presence of community-based structures that provide continuity beyond competitive performance. Dropout most commonly occurred during periods of organizational disruption, unclear responsibility, or weakened community connection, rather than as a result of declining motivation or performance. Systems that treated athlete pathways as ongoing relationships, rather than linear progressions, demonstrated greater retention stability. The study contributes to sport management and governance literature by positioning athlete retention as an indicator of system quality rather than individual commitment. For policymakers and sport managers, the findings suggest that improving retention requires sustained attention to governance clarity, community integration, and the design of pathways that accommodate life-course transitions in Paralympic sport.