Mindfulness and Paralympic Sport: a Mindfulness Based Intervention for Paralympic Boccia Brazilian Team

The approach of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games brings an opportunity for reflection on how the academic universe follows the evolution of this sports segment and whether it is possible to carry out an intervention that will contribute to improving and maintaining the performance of Paralympic Boccia Brazilian Team. Mindfulness means being aware and describes a natural human capacity that can be trained and previous researches indicate that the presence of mindfulness traits in athletes can be improved with mindfulness training. Specifically, the Paralympic Boccia is a sport that is on the rise for new resources that can collaborate with its performance in a national and international context. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on Paralympic Boccia athletes, in particular, the impact on sports performance and quality of life from the change in attentional level. It is a pilot study of feasibility and preliminary effectiveness composed of a longitudinal intervention that uses as a baseline measure a Mindfulness Training of 2 cycles (each cycle is formed by 4 days of intervention); two follow-up measures (1 and 6 months after the 2nd cycle); and a final measurement (12 months after the start of the study). The research will have as a convenience sample Athletes from the Paralympic Boccia Brazilian Team, which will be compared with itself in the data analysis. It is expected to show a positive impact on the athletes\' quality of life (primary outcome). As secondary outcomes, it is expected to show the evolution of sports performance in relation to the accuracy of the pitch and the speed of the ball, in addition to improving the attention focus and perceived stress, which affect the tactics and performance of the game. The potential benefits of this research also have a social component, by expanding the understanding of human nature through sport, and also a functional component, by impacting the performance of these high-performance athletes.