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The paper examines the talent identification and development process in three youth disability sports: wheelchair basketball, Boccia and disability tennis. The analysis is concerned to explore the extent of convergence in processes between disability sports and between disability and mainstream sports. The analytical framework adopted identifies seven dimensions along which convergence can be assessed and is used in conjunction with a typology of levels of policy change. The data for the analysis were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The main findings included evidence of convergence between disability sports and between the three disability sports and mainstream sports especially in relation to: motives; agendas and aspirations; and contextualizing discourse/ideology/values. There was also evidence of policy change at all three levels identified by Hall.

The aim of this paper is to provide a context for the contributions which follow in this special issue. Attention is drawn to the range of possible motives for the increase in interest in youth sport evinced by a selection of major stakeholders including international sport federations, domestic federations and event organizers. The paper draws attention to the changing relationship between young people and sport where the former are seen increasingly as a resource to help meet the organizational objectives of the latter. The paper concludes with a summary of, and commentary on, the nine papers in the special issue.