Challenges, opportunities, and managerial implications in sport for development: insights and reflections from the ‘SFD field’.

Recent research in the field of sport for development (SFD)
has examined how organisational dynamics, such as the
structure and management of SFD organisations, might
better facilitate the impact of sport-based interventions. Such
research has highlighted the increasingly precarious policy
and funding landscape within SFD, noting how
organisational survival is a constant pressure, and the need
to be resilient, adaptable, and sustainable, has assumed a
higher strategic priority. In addition, various scholars in the
field have appealed for research that draws upon the ideas,
experiences, and reflections of practitioners to directly
explore how stakeholders across the SFD landscape are
responding to current challenges. This paper is a direct
response to these appeals, drawing upon a qualitative
research project that engaged 27 SFD organisations from
across the globe. The paper presents the reflections of
representatives of these organisations, highlighting the
challenges currently evident in the SFD sector, how they
might be countered, and how they may also present
opportunities for the sector. Specifically, the paper provides
empirical evidence in relation to three themes: (i) the
implications of current (short-term) funding models, (ii) the
subsequent impact on building organisational capacity, and
(iii) the challenges of engaging at a government/policy level.