Abstract
Despite increasing evidence that sport-for-development (SFD) programs can contribute to community development, there remains a lack of empirical inquiry into different socio-managerial aspects of SFD. For example, in attempts to achieve locally sustained SFD programs, the roles, responsibilities and potential impact of re-engaged youth need further investigation. The authors define re-engaged youth as previous program participants who have maintained strong links with the organization and who return to the program at a later stage as volunteers or staff members. In this paper, the authors examine ways in which Re-engaged youth of the Blue Dragon Children Foundation’s SFD program contribute to sustainable management and indirectly to community development within a disadvantaged community setting in Hanoi, Vietnam. Following an interpretive mode of inquiry, the authors conducted and analyzed two focus groups (six participants each) and 12 in-depth interviews with re-engaged youth (n = 7) and key program stakeholders (n = 5). Overall, re-engaged youth represented key drivers for organizational success; they served as program culture experts, role models, leaders and mentors, and creators of a family feel in SFD and beyond. The authors argue that re-engaged youth are demonstrating a number of important change agent capabilities that enable them to uniquely gauge and best respond to the needs of program participants and local communities in complex sociocultural environments.
Highlights
Around the world, sport is increasingly used by aid agencies, development bodies and non-governmental organizations as a strategic vehicle for achieving numerous social, cultural, physical, educational, and economic development goals (Schulenkorf & Adair, 2014)
Whereas international change agents are often engaged for a short period of time only, re-engaged youth have the opportunity to remain involved for the longer term, thereby establishing much stronger bonds and networks with children, their families and communities, which are critical for refreezing change in individuals and communities
Look at [name of reengaged staff member]; they know that he is part of the family because he had similar experiences in the past. 5.2 Role models In the context of BDCF, a special role is held by the re-engaged youth who have returned to become employed in a formal position
Summary
Sport is increasingly used by aid agencies, development bodies and non-governmental organizations as a strategic vehicle for achieving numerous social, cultural, physical, educational, and economic development goals (Schulenkorf & Adair, 2014). We only have limited and largely indirect evidence of why re-engaged youth—previous program participants who have maintained strong links with the organization and who return to the program at a later stage as volunteers or staff members—are a potentially crucial link between the local community and the SFD provider. They have had similar experiences—both on and off the field—to the children with whom they work and engage. Researchers have not yet investigated the role re-engaged youth play in SFD
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