En garde!: uma análise do impacto do programa Bolsa-Atleta na esgrima em cadeira de rodas entre os anos de 2007 e 2021

Abstract

Since 2005, the Brazilian federal government has maintained one of the largest individual athlete incentive and sponsorship programs in the world, the Bolsa-Atleta Program, an initiative that benefits more than 6,500 athletes with an investment of over R$125 million in 2020 In this sense, the objective of this research was to analyze the impact of the Bolsa-Atleta Program on the career of wheelchair fencing athletes, between 2007 and 2021. As methodological procedures, this study is classified as quantitative, exploratory and descriptive. A total of 17 wheelchair fencing athletes, of both sexes, benefited from funding from the Bolsa-Atleta Program and ranked on the website Inteligência Esportiva, regardless of the grant category. For data collection we used the Sports Intelligence website and a questionnaire containing 7 questions. First, the data were tabulated and organized in an Excel spreadsheet. Subsequently, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and frequency distribution. As a result, we found the distribution of 209 scholarships, until the year 2021 and about 67 athletes benefited from a total investment of R$ 3,670.2 million in the modality, with the intermediate level scholarships (national and international) with the largest number of contemplated athletes. In addition, it was found that 67% of athletes are men and that the sport has a higher concentration of athletes in the South Region (72%). Finally, 82.3% of the athletes stated that the Bolsa-Atleta program helps to improve performance and that 58.9% of the participants cited essential support for initiation in Paralympic fencing. Finally, it is concluded that Wheelchair Fencing athletes consider the funding offered by the program essential for their permanence and dedication to the sport, increasing their income due to the superior quality of the equipment used and payment of competition costs.