Playing to Heal: Designing a Trauma-Sensitive Sport Programme

This paper is intended to offer frontline youth sport programmes a practical framework for creating a trauma-sensitive intervention and to increase their capacity to support young people in their own healing process. We have spent the last 10 years observing the effects of trauma on young people and exploring the most effective clinical approaches.

Our work has allowed us to train staff and implement trauma-sensitive programmes in post-Tsunami Thailand, Gaza, Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and the USA. We have looked closely at the world of youth sport, in particular the evolving field of sports-based youth development (SBYD), which focuses specifically on the positive development outcomes that can accompany a well-run and intentional youth sports programme.