ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport, Leisure, Tourism, and Events
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1590372
This article is part of the Research TopicLeisure and Recreation Access, Inclusion, and Participation Amongst People with DisabilitiesView all 7 articles
Promoting recreational opportunities and experiences of students with disabilities, at a University, in Limpopo Province, South Africa
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
- 2University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
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The Limpopo Province is one of the nine provinces in South Africa and has only two universities that serve students with disabilities coming from historically disadvantaged communities (HDC). The two universities within the Limpopo Province are categorically classified as Historical Disadvantaged Institutions (HDI) of higher learning. Therefore, students with disabilities deserve the right to recreational opportunities and experiences while continuing with their tertiary education. A literature review confirmed an existing gap that relates to promoting recreational opportunities and experiences of students with disabilities in universities. The objective of the research was to gain a deeper insight into how recreational opportunities and experiences can be enhanced for students with disabilities at a university in Limpopo Province. The study adopted a qualitative research approach using an exploratory design wherein seventeen students with disabilities were purposively selected and consented to participate in the study. The study used semi-structured interviews to collect data. The study findings revealed three main themes, including recreation participation, benefits of active recreation, and more opportunities for participation. This indicates that students with disabilities do not fully participate in recreational activities due to limited accessible recreational activities, conducive facilities, and other societal challenges. The conclusion drawn is that recreational opportunities and experiences of students with disabilities are not adequately promoted in the University. This recommends the need for more exploratory mechanisms to address issues facing students with disabilities holistically.
Keywords: Students, disabilities, Recreational opportunities, Recreational experiences, University
Received: 09 Mar 2025; Accepted: 17 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mululuma, Mugwedi and Malema. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Anzani Mululuma, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
Makhaya Johannes Malema, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, 7535, South Africa
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