Abstract
Since the United Nations (UN) positioned sport as a tool to deliver on first the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and now the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) key
stakeholders developed policy frameworks and funded projects across the globe. Sport for
development (SfD) then emerged as a field of scientific enquiry of relevance and articulation
with multiple disciplines, including sport management.
The scrutiny of literature revealed a gap in the body of knowledge of SfD, identifying the causal
relationship between the changing ontological understanding of how sport presents itself as
mechanism for sport development and SfD in relation to good practices and longer-term
sustainable development in local contexts. The study aimed to set up a stakeholder framework
for sustainable sport-related programme delivery across the continuum of sport development
and SfD that is sensitive to the local context and is contributing to developmental and/or sport
developmental outcomes in the context of Namibia. A conceptual framework was built around
key mechanisms: delivery model, stakeholder configuration, community, national context,
global context. developmental outcomes, and sustainability. A Southern Theory approach was
used emphasising the importance of building local knowledge to understand SfD delivery.
Using a constructivist epistemology, a comparative case study analysis was done of five SfD
practices in the sport and the SfD sector in Namibia. The study consisted of document analysis,
interviews, and participant observation. In total 44 people were interviewed: 21 representatives
of the SfD implementing organisations, 17 participants, and six stakeholders. Out of the 44, 26
are male and 18 are female. The research did find that all practices had developmental outcomes
but were limited in sustainability because of barriers between the community, national and
global level. The ecosystem framework was developed by overlaying the white box approach
with the Ecological Theory of Bronfenbrenner, which includes the key factors in which the
SfD practices operate and that influence delivery, sustainability, and impact. The ecosystem
framework considers the inner workings of SfD delivery and the interaction with the
environment is recommended for a more prominent role in SfD research.
The research further showed a blend of SfD and SD in the practices. Three prototypes for SfD
delivery emerged with different strengths. SfD practices operating in marginal communities
should try to operate as a hybrid and operate in different formal sectors, tapping into networks
and funding of non- sport sectors and the traditional sports sector. They should focus on setting
up a community-based sport club based on a holistic and integrated approach. The research
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further showed the need for more emphasis and insight in the local context in which delivery
takes place.