Action sports for development: Lessons from grassroots groups

Before government agencies or SDP organisations jump on the “bandwagon” and start implementing action sport programmes in at-risk or developing communities, it is worth making a closer examination of the informal, grassroots action sports participation already occurring within local contexts. As I have illustrated elsewhere, some action sport enthusiasts are creatively and proactively using these activities in their efforts to overcome the stress and trauma of living in spaces of conflict and/or natural disaster.

In Thorpe (2013), for example, we see the importance of action sports for residents living in Christchurch (New Zealand) after the devastating February 2011 earthquake. For Christchurch residents who had been active participants prior to the earthquake, beaches, indoor skate parks and bouldering routes became “therapeutic landscapes” – their sporting participation in these spaces helped some escape (if only temporarily) the stresses of daily life. Based on this research, it might be argued that governmental or private organisations would do well to give greater consideration to the role of non-traditional sporting spaces for residents’ recovery and resilience following a natural disaster.

Freedom of free running
In Thorpe and Ahmad (2013) further evidence is provided of the creative grassroots approaches being adopted by action sport enthusiasts in places of conflict and poverty.  This paper illustrates the value of parkour—the practice of running, jumping and leaping within the urban environment—for youth in high-density urban spaces with limited access to resources. 

More specifically, we see how young men in Gaza have embraced this activity as a physical form of self-expression and escapism. They proclaim the value of parkour for their resilience and coping with the frustrations, fears, anxieties and pains of living in the Khan Younes refugee camp.

This case also illustrates another area where action sports are pioneers, that is in the use of social media as a cost effective way to engage participants in local and global contexts.

Talk to the participants
As illustrated via such cases, some youth are demonstrating remarkable agency in creating sporting opportunities that cater to their own and other local young people’s physical, social, and psychological needs. Such activities may not meet traditional definitions of sport, yet these groups are adopting highly creative and resourceful approaches to realise some of the goals at the heart of the SDP movement.

These projects point to possibilities for governments and states to provide a unique form of foreign aid through the support and development of grassroots ASDP organisations.  In so doing, however, they would do well to consult with action sport participants and provide space for their voices and insights before developing such programmes.