ABSTRACT
This chapter will chart the evolution of the concept of Sport for Development in policy, practice and research, while reflecting upon the multi-disciplinary environment in which Sport for Development operates. Debating the relative influences exerted on the field and the contrasting academic considerations that define it, it will engage with the assertion and idealism that sport is a power for good and discuss the arguments related to inflated claims surrounding its impact, promoting a need for critical and objective research. The chapter will maintain that the pressure exercised at project level to solve all-encompassing issues using limited focus interventions (Coalter, 2007), in an attempt to be ‘all things to all people’, results in limited strategic focus beyond mere project to project evaluation. Recognition is afforded the struggle to establish a Sport for Development sector, deliberating on the need for an agreed programme theory as sectoral guidance compared to the flexibility that comes from borrowing and adopting frameworks and models from related disciplines. Attention is drawn to the factors that influence Sport for Development, particularly the reliance on external sources for sustainability and the impact of the subsequent power balance on sectoral leadership and regulations. These topics lead to a review of key principles for practice, policy and research informing a summary of future considerations in the shaping of the Sport for Development landscape.
