Why Are the Disabled People Willing to Participate in Sports: Taking Chinese Disabled Table Tennis Players as the Object of Investigation?

In this paper, questionnaire survey and data analysis are the main research methods. Its main purpose is to try to answer the question “why are the disabled people willing to participate in sports” and to explore some of the important factors that affect the participation of persons with disabilities. The object of the study is the 83 disabled table tennis players in the national training base. “Questionnaire of Motivation Adapted Athletes (AQAM)” is an international standard. Through descriptive analysis and independent sample T test data analysis, this study concludes three points: 1) “enhancing physical fitness”, “loving table tennis sport” and “winning the respect of others” are the main reasons that contribute to the participation in sports of disabled persons; 2) The motives of male and female athletes with disabilities to participate in sports are quite different; 3) The sports participation motivation of persons with disabilities is positively related to their family circumstances.