Ten per cent of the Netherlands has a mild to severe disability (WHO, nd.). Despite this, there is little attention to Paralympic sports played in the Netherlands. This research focuses on:

“How can wheelchair team sports in the Netherlands be effectively supported in their journey towards professionalisation in preparation for the Paralympics 2032 in Brisbane?”

For this research, the new product development effectuation approach was applied (Duening, 2012). Methods used include phenomenological research in wheelchair tennis, ice sledge hockey,
para-badminton and the euro para games, qualitative interviews and research on the tennis sport as an exemplar.

The results from the studies were that federations have the most impact and potential to accomplish professionalisation. The NOC*NSF should guide and keep the overview of what all the different federations are doing. The federations are the implementers, reporting what is and is not working to the federations. The athletes also have an essential feedback role but are the potential new role models of the sport.

To professionalise paralympic wheelchair team sports, federations should improve four components in their sport. The competition must be at a standard high level, there must be an organisation for para-sport within the federation, the sport must become financially stable, and the elite athletes must start getting paid to become full-time athletes. A para-sport does not have to figure it out independently but can achieve cross-pollination through various collaborations.

These four components can lead to professionalisation in four steps mapped out in a roadmap. In the first horizon of six months, all wheelchair team sports federations will look at their organisation and make a plan on how they want to grow.
In the second horizon of one year, they will explore with whom they can achieve their goals and create a plan together.
In the third horizon of three years, they will implement the new structures, and the fourth horizon is about maintaining and improving the new structures.

Based on this design, wheelchair team sports can be professionalised in the Netherlands. For a successful strategy implementation, a follow-up study could look from the federations’ point of view at how this roadmap can be applied to other sports