Using life skills to promote social justice: Youth sport as a vehicle for social change

As youth sport researchers, we seek to understand how youth develop and transfer life skills. In recent years, cultural issues have urged us to evolve our understanding of life skills. For instance, the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements continue to raise awareness of inequities within sport and beyond. Additionally, the climate change movement has…

Maximizing Social Learning Spaces in Sport Organizations: A Story about Creating Value

The global knowledge society is one in which we can never know everything we will need to know to be successful – something the pandemic has brought into sharp focus. Sport leaders need an agile method capable of gathering knowledge from many sources and that encourages reformulations and innovations to address ever new challenges. With…

Corporatizing sport for aboriginal girls: Connecting corporate social responsibility, the ‘Girl Effect’ and aboriginal-focused sport, gender and development programs

Project Summary This study explored how urban Aboriginal young women understand and experience their participation in a sport for development (SFD) program administered by the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society Centre (VAFCS); and investigated how corporate funding and involvement in the VAFCS SFD program impacted targeted beneficiaries. The three specific objectives of the research were: To…

Taking Action: Community Sport Organizations and Social Responsibility

Community sport organizations (CSOs) are a central thread in the fabric of Canadian society, providing a meaningful place for people to play, compete, volunteer, coach, and interact with others who may share their interests and values. As a foundation of the sport development system, we look to them to provide high quality, fun, and safe…

Using Sport to Accomplish Social Change

Have you heard the term Sport for Development and wondered what it means? Sport for development (also referred to as S4D and used interchangeably with sport for social change or sport for social objectives) involves tapping into what sport can do “intentionally” to address a range of community priorities, including community building, reduced youth criminal…