Identifying the Requirements for the Development of Desert Sports in Kerman.

Purpose: According the significance of developing desert sports in the areas prone to such sports, the aim of the current study was to identify the requirements for the development of desert sports in Kerman. Method: This research was a qualitative exploratory study that has been done using a thematic analysis method. The participants in the study included experts in the field of sports management with the experience in desert sports. According to the nature of the research, 12 experts were interviewed as the participants through purposive sampling until reaching the theoretical saturation. The tool used in the research was a semi-structured interview. The intra-subject agreement method was used to ensure the reliability of findings, and the validity was confirmed by criteria including credibility, dependability, transferability and confirmability. Results: The thematic analysis of the data by Braun and Clarke's (2006) method led to the extraction of 144 codes, 18 sub-themes and five main themes. The findings showed that "Creating infrastructure", "Holding events", "Encouragement and support", "Promotion and advertising", as well as "Training and preparation" were the explored requirements for the development of desert sports in Kerman. Conclusion: According to the importance and potentials of desert sports in Kerman, the findings of this study can be considered as a basis for developing the desert sports and provide an agenda for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]