Being disabled is considered as part of the identity by people with disabilities. This shows that disabled people generally accept and adopt their disability. However, what are the problems faced by disabled people in social life? How motivated are people with disabilities to participate in sports? Is there a relationship between them? These questions are the basic questions that the research aims to find the answer. This research was carried out to determine the motivation of wheelchair basketball athletes to participate in sports and the obstacles these athletes face in social life. Whether there is a significant relationship between these two situations and whether these conditions differ according to demographic characteristics were examined in the study. One hundred and thirty-four people (103 men, 31 women), who are wheelchair basketball athletes, participated in this study. The data used in the research were collected by a questionnaire. The data were analyzed and interpreted with the help of SPSS 24 program. As a result of the research, it was found that the obstacles that athletes encounter in social life are perceived at a low level and the motivation to participate in sports is generally high. No significant relationship was found between motivation to participate in sports and obstacles encountered in social life. At the end of the research, suggestions were presented to the society and to the researchers who will conduct research in the future.
Keywords: Sports Participation Motivation, Barriers in Social Life, Wheelchair Basketball
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