Bigger than Us - Sport-for-Development

“... sport has certain wider social ‘functions’ beyond the game ...”

Since I come from a relatively small community in northern Alberta, I wanted to look into our role as Canadians in the international community and how sport can support development in different countries worldwide. The article I found is actually a prelude to the Sport in Society issue on sport-for-development so it touches on each section of the journal as well as the major questions surrounding sport-for-development. The article is called “The social impact of sport: diversities, complexities and contexts” by Ramon Spaaij and he looks at what sport-for-development is, how it can be established, what are the positives and negatives of sport-for-development and summaries of the case studies that are outlined throughout the special issue.

One of the main things that he looks at is “...social development through sport is [usually] imposed on disadvantaged communities in a top-down manner, lacking community engagement and shared ownership.” I too believe that community development cannot be legislated in this sense, that there has to first be some movement from the grassroots level in order for a program or new idea to grow and then succeed. This means for leaders within the international community should work with local governments, as that is inevitable, but community development should be initiated and carried out locally and with the members of the community. Essentially, it is just embracing the idea that how can you help the masses, without knowing the individuals. I believe that that is key to community development whether it’s in Alaska or Zimbabwe.  

 

Another problem that this article addresses is that in developing countries “...the state can be as much part of the problem as the solution.” This is something I had never given much thought to but it makes a lot of sense. Think about it. If you lived in a country with a government that could be deemed corrupted, authoritarian and a powerful military regime, they, in most cases, use sport in order to create a better and stronger army, just like the Spartans did a gazillion years ago. So how do you trust a sport program coming from your government that has proven they only want you as soldiers? The answer is easy. People don’t trust their government and don’t join thus debilitating the sport-for-development process. This highlights the need for organizations like UNICEF and FIFA to get involved, as they are known to unbiased and present for the good of the people.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UozCYu9e65U

 

The last aspect of the article I would like to share with you is that it also looks into the negative effects of sport-for-development. This had crossed my mind because if it was all positive why wouldn’t every country use sport for community development, but I have never really dug any deeper into the issue. Spaaij addresses the fact that sport “often reflects or even reinforces social inequalities.” To me this made a lot of sense. If the problem in the community was that Team Blue thought they were better than Team Red, and Team Blue consistently annihilates Team Red, that would just fortify their sense of supremacy and crush all hopes of the two teams developing into a community. Organizations within sport-for-development must be cautious is making sure their programs do not highlight this dominance, but instead stress the importance of building relationships.  

 

Whether is Major League Baseball in the Dominican Republic or Indigenous participating in Australian football, sport has the opportunity to empower individuals, strength relationships, grow communities and essentially, without being too cliché, change the world.

 “Through sport and physical education, individuals can experience equality, freedom and a dignifying means for empowerment, particularly for girls and women, for people with a disability, for those living in conflict areas and for people recovering from trauma.”