Abstract

Disasters have devastating social, economic, and health impacts on affected populations and communities. Children and youth are particularly impacted by disasters due to various physical, psychological, and social factors related to their developmental stage. Recently, sport has gained attention as an innovative and beneficial method of trauma relief for children and youth in the post-disaster context. In addition, participation in sport activities has the potential to provide children and youth with the opportunity to learn skills that promote resilience in the aftermath of a disaster. This article discusses an interactive sport initiative involving seventy-two children and youth that was developed and conducted as a knowledge mobilization activity in a community impacted by the 2013 flood in Alberta, Canada. Soccer (i.e., football) was selected as the type of sport for the initiative given its widespread popularity among children and youth. This article offers a detailed description of the process, methods, and practices that were used to incorporate sport in a post-disaster context, and outlines the potential impact and effectiveness of utilizing sport as an educational tool to help children and youth develop and enhance their resilience post-disaster. This article highlights how sport can enhance health and social functioning among children and youth in the wake of a disaster by providing children and youth with a safe, structured, and supportive learning environment; giving children and youth the opportunity to discuss challenges and useful strategies; encouraging children and youth to communicate and interact with their peers in a collaborative fashion; and facilitating the guidance and mentorship of children and youth by local sport coaches, thus contributing to disaster recovery. We discuss the implications these findings have for better understanding the unique and valuable role that sport can play in children and youth’s recovery process following disaster and other catastrophic events.