Social change through sport for development initiatives: A critical pedagogical perspective

Within our cities, a substantial proportion of young people are still growing up in socially vulnerable situations, with the risk of social exclusion from various institutions such as education, leisure time and the labour market. It is increasingly assumed that sport can be a means to reach these young people and ‘work’ with them. The rhetoric, policy measures and wide range of initiatives that use sport for development and social change can be accommodated within the term ‘sport for development’ (SfD). However, underlying the dominant SfD discourse, there are a number of problematic assumptions that corresponds with the broader societal discourses about these young people, their problems and their needs. An accurate needs analysis is, nevertheless, essential for an effective and efficient approach to the problems that young people face, and therefore also through SfD. Moreover, numerous studies have shown that the relationship between sport participation and positive development depends on a combination of different contextual factors, educational components and pedagogical processes. Since these studies take the broader societal context in which young people find themselves too little into account, this doctoral study departed from a critical sociological perspective in order to examine how and to what extent SfD initiatives can contribute to development and social change and in what way this can be monitored, evaluated and supported. Within this study, Zeno Nols worked together with six urban SfD initiatives from Brussels, Antwerp and Genk: Brussels Boxing Academy, Brussels Jiu-Jitsu Academy, Antwerp Wolf Pack, City
Pirates Antwerp, Kras Sport Antwerp and Opboksen Genk. These initiatives are experts in the field of sport for development and should be recognised for it.