The present study explored the role of sport in citizen diplomacy efforts using the voices of Mexican participants involved with an international sport for development and peace (SDP) program between the United States and Mexico. Collectively, participants’ experiences and cultural perspectives highlighted the promising potential of sport to foster citizen diplomacy, while also emphasizing the importance of constructively critiquing such programs. In semi-structured focus group interviews, Mexican participants reflected on connecting with Americans through a sense of shared humanity, expressed optimism for continued and future partnerships with Americans in sport, and described the United States and Americans in idealistic terms. Reflection of these findings yield additional insight on how SDP researchers and practitioners can design and implement future programs to increasingly foster, and prioritize, equitable contributions across groups while also promoting and celebrating the strengths of each culture.

Menstruation impacts people around the world, yet this topic is shrouded in taboo, undermining our ability to understand experiences of menstrual health and well-being. Research and activism on menstruation experiences in the Global South has grown dramatically in recent years. However, menstrual health research in the field of sport for development (SFD) is largely absent.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the lived experience of menstrual health amongst adolescent girls in SFD, the impact of menstrual health education through SFD and in what ways SFD might serve as a platform for menstrual health education. The participants took part in four lessons on menstrual health through the National Organisation for Women in Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation (NOWSPAR) of Zambia. These sessions included sport-based activities, menstrual health lessons, and journaling with adolescent participants (n=79). The adult facilitators (n=3) also completed journal exercises. The data yielded three key themes: (1) understanding and learning about the menstrual cycle; (2) pain, discomfort and coping with menstrual symptoms; and (3) stigma, fear and embarrassment surrounding menstruation. We conclude that menstrual stigma is a root cause to many of the challenges girls face and that SFD can be an impactful environment for menstrual health education.

Recent literature has highlighted the need for trauma-informed programming and research in sport. Specifically, studies have noted the importance of developing trauma-informed approaches to sport for development (SFD) initiatives that work with victims and survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). The purpose of this scoping review was to: (1) examine the synergies between trauma-and violence informed physical activity (TVIPA) programs and sport for development (SFD) programs globally for survivors/victims of GBV; and 2) assess the implementation of TVIPA in future SFD programming for survivors and victims of GBV. Guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework, we systematically reviewed three electronic databases: ProQuest, EBSCO, and Web of Science. Following thematic analysis of the selected articles revealed that TVIPA should be further explored in SFD programming as a possible approach for victims and survivors of GBV. Taken together, we suggest the need for trauma-and violence-informed SFD, especially: 1) for vulnerable SFD program participants; and 2) to better understand and prevent GBV experiences in SFD and sport more broadly. This is one of the first studies to explore the synergies between TVIPA and SFD, contributing to novel trauma research in the context of sport, development and physical activity.

Through engagement with sport and physical activity, sport-based youth development (SBYD) programs aim to support the development of youth toward a positive sense of self, enrich their human and social capital, and enhance their personal skills, development assets, and competencies. The purpose of this study is to explore the role, programmatic strategy, and impact of sport sampling opportunities offered in a SBYD program. To this end, we interviewed 19 racially and economically marginalized youth, ages 10-17 years old, participating in an after-school SBYD program on the campus of a large university in the Southeast United States. Data revealed four themes (sampling sport, emotional management, development outcomes, and sports mentoring) comprised of 12 sub-themes. We discuss each against the backdrop of the racially and economically marginalized community in which participants live. Implications of our study can be used to help advance sport-sampling as a development intervention in campus-community partnerships, as well as expand our conceptual understanding of sport sampling.

Sport for Development (SfD) literature tends to focus on and value bottom-up, grassroots projects and realities, and criticize top-down (i.e., from high- to low-authority) approaches. This is also true when considering the intersection of sport and refugees. With millions of people displaced every year, a new perspective is needed to reconcile bottom-up and top-down approaches. In this conceptual paper, we provide literature that frames traditional and contemporary issues embedded in the refugee and sport domains with a specific focus on the top-down, bottom-up approaches SfD stakeholders adopt. From these stakeholder configurations, associated challenges, and complexities, we present a contemporary effort to challenge the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ dichotomy; namely, by drawing parallels to the concept of clean minds (top) and dirty hands (bottom). We interrogate this discrepancy in two ways: first, through our experiences and interpretations as members of the Olympic Refuge Foundation’s Think Tank; second, by merging the “clean minds, dirty hands” concept with Lefebvre’s (1991) theory of social space. Ultimately, the clean minds, dirty hands dichotomy is better represented as a spectrum that interacts with Lefebvre’s theory in unique ways. Implications for influencing the sport and refugee movement, as well as the broader field of SfD, are discussed.