Blind adapted baseball: the perspective of coaches and visually impaired athletes from the first World Cup

Purpose Regular physical activity benefits physical, psychological, and social health, especially for individuals affected by disabilities. Visually impaired people face substantial barriers to participation, and specific guidelines for adapted sports remain limited. Blind baseball represents an effective tool of inclusion, socio-emotional development, and psychophysical well-being promotion. Nevertheless, global data regarding participant perceptions and needs are lacking. The present study aimed to provide the first evidence-based characterization of psychosocial well-being, sport-specific awareness, and on-field management challenges among visually impaired athletes and sighted coaches participating in the WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup 2024. Methods A multilingual, anonymous online survey was administered to 35 visually impaired athletes and 26 sighted coaches from seven national teams. This survey included validated instruments such as the 18-item Psychological Well-Being scale (PWB-18) and the Mental Abilities Questionnaire (QuAM). Purposely designed sport-specific items inquiring the tailored on-field organization and criticalities, coach–athlete relationship perception, and Paralympic sport media attention were included as well. Participants were grouped by macro-geographic area (Reference country/Italy, Europe, America, and Asia). Descriptive statistics, ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test, and t test were performed. Results PWB-18 scores did not differ significantly across groups, with athletes generally scoring slightly higher than coaches, hence remarking the socio-functional benefits of blind baseball. QuAM results showed better stress management in Italian athletes compared with European peers. Most coaches indicated greater challenges in training visually impaired athletes, difficulty recruiting volunteers, and urgent need for economic incentives. Athletes and coaches widely endorsed the need for specialized technical–methodological training and stable inclusion of kinesiologists and sport psychologists. A limited media visibility of adapted sports was highlighted. Conclusions This study offers the first global evidence on psychosocial perceptions and sport-specific challenges faced by blind baseball athletes and coaches. Findings underline and support the need for developing evidence-based guidelines and international strategies to enhance accessibility and visibility of this under-investigated discipline. Hopefully, our research might help filling the gap in parasport coach–athlete perspective studies and spread knowledge and interest in this promising field.