Leisure education to leadership: Youth with physical disabilities’ experiences in South Africa

INTRODUCTION: Young people with physical disabilities frequently lack opportunities to develop their leadership potential. These include their ability to make decisions and be able to take charge of their leisure programmes. An argument is made that developing leadership skills for youth with physical disabilities can be facilitated by participating in leisure education programmes. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to explore youth with physical disabilities’ perceptions of how leisure education can be used as a tool to develop their leadership. METHOD: This study used a descriptive qualitative research design to collect data using the purposive sampling method from 10 youths with physical disabilities aged 18 to 34 years in the Western Cape, South Africa. One-on-one interviews with semi-structured and open-ended questions were used to collect data for this study. RESULTS: The findings of this study include 4 main themes and 11 sub-themes. This study’s findings showed that participants’ perceptions and experiences were evidence of leisure education being used to build their capacity as leaders within their society. Furthermore, their understanding of how they apply leadership opportunities is an encouraging moment for their development. CONCLUSION: Leisure education should be considered as a means to promote leadership in youth with physical disabilities in South Africa. CONTRIBUTION: Knowledge and experience about youth with physical disabilities, their leisure education experiences and skills development during activities.