Debate, dialogue, and discussion descended on The Change Foundation in September, as the Cricket Centre hosted the Sport Development Network’s Annual Conference. The title of this year’s conference was “The Reckoning of Sport: Inviting the Next Era of Sport Development”, and where better to discuss such a relevant topic than at the home of the UK’s oldest sport for social change charity?
The conference was kicked off by The Change Foundation CEO, Navjeet Sira, who challenged attendees to abandon traditional cliches around sport for development and embrace radical ideas which lead can lead to real social change. With Navjeet setting the tone for the next two days, delegates presented on topics from youth perspectives on justice and health in youth clubs and sport, to gender and racially-responsive sport-based interventions for girls at risk of gang-exploitation.
Day one ended with a nod to our future and a homage to the past, as our Girls and Women Coaching Manager led a Sport With Heart workshop, exploring the role and impact of emotions on our wellbeing, before two matches of Street20 were battled out on the cricket pitch.
The second day started with an introspective keynote workshop on the “Authentic Edge” by former Rugby League player Stevie Ward, exploring how to process and manage fear while being authentic leaders. Keen to take on Navjeet’s challenge, delegates presented research on topics covering the role of social justice in sport for development in a neo-liberal world, to the peace capabilities of football on The Change Foundation’s very own Street Elite programme.
Throughout the two days, the concept of sport development, sport for development, and sport for development and peace was debated and challenged, with The Change Foundation Cricket Centre providing the perfect space for contextualising and inspiring debate on how this plays out in practice.
To find out more about how you can host a conference, workshop, or training session in the home of sport for social change, please contact Lucas, Director of Operations.
