The new blueprint is designed to help coaches and leaders create accessible, empowering sport environments for blind and partially sighted youth.
The Canadian Disability Participation Project (CDPP 2.0) has released a new resource to support inclusion in Canadian sport: The Blueprint for Building Quality Participation in Sport for Blind and Partially-Sighted Athletes.
This guide is tailored for coaches, instructors, and program coordinators who work with blind and partially sighted children and youth in recreational sport and physical activity programs. It provides practical strategies, case studies, and evidence-based recommendations to help sport leaders deliver meaningful, accessible experiences for all participants.
Adapted from CDPP’s original framework for building quality participation, this Blueprint is uniquely focused on the experiences of blind and partially sighted athletes. It introduces three guiding principles to help leaders rethink how athletes engage with sport environments:
• Consider the multi-sensory experiences of athletes
• Embrace and respect difference
• Embed personalization into programming
The Blueprint outlines six foundational building blocks of quality participation, including autonomy, belonging, challenge, engagement, mastery, and meaning, and offers actionable strategies to support each one.
These strategies span across program, social, and multi-sensory environments, encouraging flexible, responsive, and inclusive sport delivery.
Available now on www.cdpp2.ca, the resource is complemented by a social media toolkit designed to help sport organizations, schools, and community programs share and implement the guide’s key messages. The kit is intended to help build confidence and capacity among sport leaders while advancing more equitable access to sport for the blind and partially sighted community.
The release of this Blueprint marks another important step toward a more inclusive Canadian sport system where every athlete has the opportunity to thrive.
Photo: 2025 Canadian Paralympic Committee
