Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Political and economic crises have forced over 60 million refugees, most of whom are under 18, out of their homes. Diverse entities have turned to sports to address this global crisis. International organizations such as the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee; national sports agencies; individual professional teams; religious institutions (including the Vatican); and even local police departments have all promoted sports programs or are forming new partnerships with a wide array of goals. Some programs simply seek to provide some normalcy in terrible camp conditions. Others include educational opportunities, such as learning local languages. Still others seek to use sports’ social power to integrate peoples of different cultures into new, quite unfamiliar worlds. Some presuppose long-term needs; others address only short-term requirements. This poster session examines this diverse array of sports programs through reviewing their public materials (including their marketing and fundraising activities), interviews with organizational leaders, and synthesizing extant scholarly reviews of specific programs (as well as assessments commissioned by various agencies). By developing a model for investigating and categorizing how sports associations evolve to meet new human needs, it provides a necessary initial step for assessing the impact of sports on the lives of millions.