A sport-for-development activity you can use in your class today

"Phones out, everyone, and open TikTok!"

My students looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Today, you are the marketing team for FIFA's Women's World Cup and you're filming a series of promotional TikTok videos to get people excited and talking about the 2027 tournament." They spent the next two hours running around campus, filming dances, researching hashtags, and, most importantly, having increasingly insightful and strategic conversations about what it means to market for a specific audience. At the end of class, we watched the videos and gave feedback. It was one of the best tutorials I've ever run and led me to a profound realisation: classroom activities should mirror the sports world.

For a long time, I thought discussion questions were a staple of a healthy classroom activity diet. As a fledgling tutor, I was hesitant to push the boundaries of a classroom activity and was adamant that activities linked back to the assignment. But when I finally got my chance to run/lead/facilitate my own courses, I took a chance and started designing classroom activities that were creative, fun, and importantly, mirrored the sport world. And students loved it. Instead of students reading an article and sharing their thoughts, I got them doing things in the classroom that they'd end up doing in the sport industry like running a press conference or negotiating stadium deals at a mock boardroom.

Today, in the spirit of applied activities, I'm sharing the outline for a sport-for-development activity I've used in my classroom that I love.

If you want to know more about classroom activities that mirror the sport world, make sure to register for our next GOAT Chats on May 15!

Living Lab Role Play: Co-Creating a Sport-for-Development Program

I run this activity during a week focused on community sport-for-development or stakeholder engagement. It works best when students already have a basic understanding of what sport-for-development is and why stakeholder collaboration matters. You could run it in a two-hour tutorial or stretch it across two shorter classes.

Purpose 

To help students understand how sport-for-development programs are built through negotiation and collaboration, and to give them the experience of working through competing interests, limited resources, and real-world constraints.

Prep (Before Class) 

1. Create a fictional (or real) community context

I usually invent a town or use a place students are familiar with. For example:

Welcome to Smithton, a regional town with a high youth unemployment rate, limited sport infrastructure, and a strong netball and rugby culture. A new government fund is supporting sport initiatives that build youth wellbeing. You are a group of local stakeholders tasked with co-designing a program that meets community needs.

2. Write stakeholder role cards

You need around 6-8 roles depending on class size. Some of mine include:

• A teenage girl from the local high school who plays netball

• A coach from the local rugby club

• A representative from the town council

• A donor from a national NGO focused on youth mental health

• A parent worried about kids' screen time and safety

• A PE teacher from the local primary school

• A community sport officer from the Department of Sport

• A local elder or cultural adviser

Each card includes 3-4 sentences on their goals, worries, and what success looks like to them. Keep them simple but specific.

Running the Activity

Set the scene (5 minutes)

1. Give students the program brief and explain the challenge:

“You are the steering group for a new sport-for-development program in Smithton. You’ve all been invited because of your connection to the community. Your job is to work together to design a program that builds youth wellbeing through sport. You’ll need to agree on what the program will look like, who it’s for, how it runs, and how it responds to local needs.”

2. Distribute roles (5 minutes)

Give each student a stakeholder card. In small classes, everyone can be part of one big group. In larger classes, create two or more groups working separately. Ask them to stay in character the whole time.

3. Design the program (30–40 minutes)

Students stay in their roles and begin negotiating the program. I usually guide them with a few key prompts:

• What is the main goal of your program?

• Who is it for?

• What activities will it include?

• Who will deliver it?

• Where will it be run?

• What resources will it need?

• What could go wrong?

I circulate and ask probing questions in role: “Does this really meet the needs of teenage girls?” or “Where is the funding coming from?” If a dominant voice takes over, I check in with quieter students to make sure everyone’s viewpoint gets heard.

4. Add a twist (10–15 minutes in)

Once they’re making progress, throw in a curveball:

• A local newspaper publishes an op-ed questioning whether sport really helps youth wellbeing.

• The program budget is cut by 30 percent.

• A local religious leader speaks out against mixed-gender activities.

• A new stakeholder joins, someone with their own agenda (you can play this role).

This forces groups to revisit decisions, make compromises, and rethink priorities, just like in real life. 

5. Share the program (15 minutes)

Groups present their final program to the class using a whiteboard. I ask them to cover:

• Who the program serves

• What it involves

• What makes it work in this specific context

• How they handled competing priorities

6. Reflect together (15–20 minutes)

I facilitate a discussion using these prompts:

• What was hard about the process?

• Which stakeholders had the most power? Why?

• Who had to compromise?

• Did your group create a program that everyone believed in?

• How does this experience relate to real-life sport-for-development work?

  
  

Sometimes I ask students to step out of character before the reflection. Other times, I let them reflect in role first.

Why It Works

Students get a taste of the complexity and politics involved in running community programs. It moves them beyond theory and puts them in situations where there is no perfect answer. They learn about power, compromise, advocacy, and the challenge of “doing good” when everyone defines success differently.

If you liked this activity, or want to know more, make sure to register for our next GOAT Chats on May 15!