An own goal in sport for development: Time to change the playing field
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Date
2016
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sport and Development
Abstract
Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) refers to the use of
sport to promote varied outcomes beyond the playing field
and has been defined as ‘the intentional use of sport,
physical activity and play to attain specific development
objectives in low- and middle-income countries and
disadvantaged communities in high-income settings.’
Stakeholders working in the field for the last two decades
include the United Nations, the public sector, the private
sector and civil society with an increasing number of SDP
initiatives across the globe.
While other disciplines such as health and education have
engendered a more critical perspective on the factors
causing and constraining development, certain SDP
programmes do exhibit an ongoing gap between evidence
and practice. In the most pronounced cases this is reflected
with somewhat naïve and idealistic notions of the power of
sport. Even if sport is applied in the right manner and
results in the intended change, there are deeper structural
issues that may negate such well-intentioned work. While a
focus of many SDP organisations is to develope the
individual to realise his/her capacity, there appears to be a
genuine lack of initiatives that seek to challenge or reform
the societal structures and conditions that caused this
‘underdevelopment' to occur in the first place.
Description
Keywords
Sport, Development, Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS), United Nations, Sport for Development and Peace (SDP)
Citation
Sanders, B. (2016). An own goal in sport for development: Time to change the playing field. Journal of Sport for Development, 4(6): 1-5