Sport for development is a new field in international development that has emerged, due in large part to partnerships between institutions such as the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee. The creation of a global framework and development of policies have together mobilized resources for the operation of organizations that utilize sport as a tool for development. Sport is the key instrument these organizations use to implement socioeconomic development projects and programs that work to help achieve the MDGs. This is a study of those organizations. This study examines the extent to which the selected organizations use sport as a tool and ascertains whether there is a prevalent approach to development among them. The reason for comparing the organizations is to find out more about how this idea works and how organizations are using sport to contribute to development.
The comparisons made among 42 selected organizations assess the similarities and differences in terms of development type; scope of organizational support and level of operational outreach; and effect. The selection criterion for this research is any organization that uses sport as a tool for development. The search was conducted via the Internet using keyword searches with combinations of “sport,” “tool,” and “development.”
The analysis of these organizations indicates common characteristics manifested as social capital, which this study concludes is the key to understanding this concept. The programs and activities of these organizations work to expand social networks and increase the number of connections within them. The content of the websites for the organizations is analyzed for each organization’s mission, goals, type of development, scope of organizational support, and level of operational outreach.
The types of development identified by this study in organizations that use sport as a tool for development are: conflict resolution, political, institutional, educational, social, community, media, and combination. The commonalities among these organizations indicated the dominant type of development was community. The scope of organizational support is a classification that attempts to identify the context of the geographic area of support, advocacy, development and policy from which the organizations derive their ownership or inspiration. The classifications of scope are: international, continental, national, and local. The majority scope of organizational support comes mostly from international sources. The level of operational outreach represents the area where the focus of projects and programs are performed by the organizations. This area classifies the beneficiaries of the development by the organizations. The classifications are: international, government, institution, and grassroots. The chief level of operational outreach was at the grassroots level.
Sport can be used to create and enhance community development. The benefits of sport have been deemed sufficiently cost-effective to be employed to address needs within Less Developed Countries and to help attain the Millennium Development Goals. This is important because these practices lead the way for the use of sport in poor communities elsewhere and even in more economically-developed countries.