“Leadership & Empowerment through Sport”(LETS)

The intentions, hopes, ambitions & reality of creating a Sport – for - Development organisation in Cape Town.

A work in progress!!

Presented at international conference :Universities developing social entrepreneurship through cross-sector collaborationYork St John University

1-3 Sept 2015

What is Sport – for – Development?

• The use of sport to facilitate social

improvement in specific communities

• The belief is that sports inherent values

can make a real contribution to change

in peoples lives

• Contested social construct

• The belief that sport has the power to

develop social capital, promote

community cohesion and contribute to

economic growth has been met with

scepticism

• A new form of ‘cultural imperialism’

What is LETS?Non profit company registered in Cape Town

South Africa

The specific objectives of the programme are:

1. To work in partnership to develop current &

future community leaders through sports

leadership and entrepreneurial programmes.

2. To create and deliver programmes that

contribute towards participant’s holistic

development.

3. To incorporate international best practice and

research to develop programmes that meet

specific individual and community requirements.

Why Cape Town?• Specific communities such as

Nyanga in Cape Town have 67%

of under 24 not in education,

employment or training

• It is the country with the highest

gap between rich and poor

• Huge social issues around social

exclusion, poverty and

educational underperformance

• ‘The Gateway to Africa’

Partnership Working & Curriculum• The Level 1 programme is designed as an introduction to sport & recreation leadership. This

programme was developed in partnership with the City of Cape Town Sport and Recreation

Department (DSRA) and was delivered as a pilot programme in July 2014 with 25 young leaders.

The Level 2 curriculum is broken into two separate strands.

• Level 2 (Leadership & Entrepreneurial) is a progression programme that focuses in more detail

on the development of a value based approach, the planning and delivery of tournaments and the

increased awareness of entrepreneurial opportunities.

• Level 2 (Coach Development) is designed for coaches already working within schools, community

clubs and community projects. The curriculum focuses on the development of a value based

approach and does not include the entrepreneurial part of the programme. This programme was

developed in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs & Sport (DCAS) and the initial

pilot programme was run with 20 curriculum advisors and developers in February 2014.

Methodology

The methodological approach used within this research is case study.

• LETS as an organisation is essentially a bounded entity which cannot be removed

from its contextual conditions, in depth consideration must be given to the nature of

the case including historical, physical, institutional and political contextual factors

• It is an interpretive enquiry that goes beyond the research of isolated issues and

enables an in depth study of contextual and complex issues within a specific

organisation.

• The research has been informed using a constructivist epistemology with the belief

that people effectively construct meaning of the reality that is around them. The

intention is to apply their constructed reality to the future development of the

organisation.

Data Collection stage 1 & 2

The primary data was collected at the following two pilot programmes in 2014:

• Coach Education Pilot Programme – Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport

(DCAS) – February 2014

• Young Leaders Pilot Programme – Department of Sport, Recreation and Amenities

(DSRA) – July 2014

Data was collected through interviews with support workers and managers from the

Department of Sport, Recreation (DSRA) and Amenities and the Department of Cultural

Affairs and Sport (DCAS) in Cape Town.

Questionnaires were also completed by all participants to gain a wider sense of the

potential impact. Their views were sought on the organisation, the programmes, the

potential value of this type of approach within Cape Town and their thoughts on how

the organisation could ensure its success and relevance in the future.

Results & DiscussionUnderstanding Cultural Awareness

“The issues that LETS will face in trying to reach its aims is in the way in

which it attempts to understand the culture in which it works and the

backgrounds of the participants. It needs to research local issues and

develop local based programmes” (Participant - Pilot Coach Education

Programme, 2014)

“It is important for the programme to develop in a more ‘home based’

way to show a deeper understanding of the cultural and territorial

differences within the Cape” (Participant - Pilot Coach Education

Programme, 2014)

Understanding Cultural Awareness

• Organisations looking to further their own aims and objectives are

mediated by wider social issues such as local culture, policy and an array

of different power relations (Lindsey & Grattan, 2012)

Employment – Education – Poverty – Governance – Marginalisation

• For LETS to be able to play a small part in addressing some of these

issues for the programme participants it has to do more than to be aware

of the cultural, social, economic and political issues within the

communities in which it will work. The way forward is through

engagement with local stakeholders and through the development of clear

channels of communication. It has to work with, and give a voice to the

community and develop its knowledge through participation and

engagement.

Community Engagement

“It is important to run the programme within the community

itself and to approach community leaders to engage them in the

learning process” (Participant - Pilot Coach Education

Programme, 2014)

“By establishing links with local role players such as schools,

places of worship, civic organisations, local government and

community leaders etc. by being linked with the community the

community will be more forthcoming and open up to the

programme” (Participant - Pilot Coach Education Programme,

2014)

Community EngagementThe organisation needs to be developed in a bottom up rather than top down way. A

new methodological approach is required to increase the opportunity for community

ownership

PAR - Participation enables people, through a philosophy of action, to determine

their own development and to participate meaningfully in the process of finding

their own solutions.

The intention for all future research is to move from the current interpretive

paradigm to a critical paradigm. Through this paradigm shift collaborative research

between the researcher and the participants will develop. The intention will be to

improve the experience and to provide the opportunity to empower, liberate and

raise the consciousness of both the researcher and the participants.

Curriculum Design

“What is important for us is that you look to incorporate an

entrepreneurial aspect to the programme. We want the young

people to have those skills as we feel they are lacking within the

communities” (Manager DSRA)

“I do think the recreation focus could increase. Sport programmes

are often dependent on equipment and facilities but the starting

point for a recreation can be the space and resources at their

disposal. There should be less of an emphasis on formal sport

moving more towards a ‘sport for all’ programme where rules can

be made up to suit attaining social outcomes” (Manager, DSRA)

Curriculum Design• There is the need for the curriculum to move towards a more recreational

model and away from the more sports orientated elements. Through

developing a larger focus on recreational activities there is a return to more

traditional methods of learning that have served communities well for many

centuries (Spaijj &Jeannes, 2013)

• Entrepreneurialism is highly evident within these communities but it is the

absence of developed social organisations and the lack of support available

rather than the absence of entrepreneurial energy at the personal level that

create barriers to individual progress .

• Entrepreneurialism is limited through the individualised nature of it, in the

Global North entrepreneurialism is a collective endeavor, within the Global

South the lack of a collective approach within communities has become a

bigger obstacle to economic development rather than the deficient

entrepreneurial spirit of individuals

Curriculum Design - Pedagogy

• The adoption of critical pedagogy within curriculum development is vital to ensure

the validity of the programme and the participant’s experience.

• The development of this pedagogical approach is an on-going, continuous process in

order that participants achieve a critically transitive consciousness that enables

individuals to interpret problems, develop curiosity and to reject the passive

positions that society expects of them (Freire, 1973).

• A key challenge will be to ensure that this approach is maintained in the face of

external pressures from partners, participants and funders.

• The complexities of developing in this way will be a continuous challenge; it is a

long process of change based upon international best practice, academic theory

and a continuous cycle of participatory research.

Monitoring & Evaluation

“The key issue that we had was that there was a

change to the regional boundaries in the city, we no

longer had people in place within the organisation to

monitor the young people” (Manager, DSRA)

“If I am being honest we did not know how to collect

the data that you wanted. We do not have the

resources in place to be able to monitor participants,

we were not prepared” (Manager, DSRA)

Monitoring & Evaluation

There are clear structural, economical and communication issues here which are

impacting on the need to ensure a rigorous process of monitoring and evaluation.

Without an effective system in place the future of both the partnerships and the

organisation itself are at risk.

• The difficulty of communicating with partner organisations on the other side of

the world

• The pressure that they are under with regard to other programmes

• Lack of initial planning for the collection of post programme data

• Lack of understanding as to how to collect this data.

A clear structure needs to be provided for the partner organisations as to the type

of monitoring and evaluation that is required

Future Developments – Moving Forward

• Increase cultural awareness through building and

maintaining partnerships and community engagement

• Be flexible and embrace change

• Incorporate a methodological approach of Participatory

Action Research to all future research

• The adoption of critical pedagogy within curriculum

design

• Resolve the issue of Monitoring & Evaluation

Final word

Sport can be an effective agency for enhancing social

inclusion and the five key forms of capital: human,

social, financial, physical and cultural capital (UK

Sport, 2004, p7). It can be part of the process for

development in a diverse range of environments and

circumstances but the limited evidence to support the

claim that it can produce social change ensures that

organisations must be aware of both its limitations and

its possibilities (Jarvie, 2011, p242).