As part of the programme several activities were organised: Sport for Development Workshops, Sport equipment Donations, Free Sport for Development resources available for everyone, and leadership training in SFD methodology. All this abiding by the Child Protection Policy created for the workshops.

The programme was started in 2014 in Canada, 2017 in Guatemala, and in 2018 United Play International was created. Following this the newest branch in Colombia was created in 2019. The activities were implemented in varied times and locations across each branch and have partner programs in Guyana, Nigeria and Jamaica also South Africa, and Chile (pending).

For the programme to be successful partners were essential. For this reason partnerships with several schools, NGOs, Universities, the Guatemalan Olympic Committee have been developed, and had seed funding from the IOC Youth Olympic Games Young Change Makers Program.

Securing resources is always difficult for starting organizations but the main seed funding was from IOC. Each branch has done fundraisers respectively and   donations were accepted in the different countries we have operations.

Being able to measure the impact of the organisation is a fundamental part of United Play’s work. The concrete results of the programme: implemented in 7 countries, 30 communities, +1600 kids impacted, +1250 sport items donated, +100 leaders trained with 13 team members. These number reflect the  short term goals, the aim is to double the outreach in the next 5 years.

The assessment of the programme was carried out by the co-founders who presented his master’s thesis about United Play Guatemala and how positive emotions can be generated through sport for development workshops. Using the Games and Emotions Scale 13 different emotions were measured before and after the workshops. The results indicate that the specially designed sport for development developed workshops  have fostered positive emotions in youth participants while reducing negative ones.

This practice is sustainable, as several objectives have been achieved with a minimal budget, and easily accessible equipment. This design can be easily replicated in new branches and partner programs that want to use the United Play resources and methodology. We are also applying for legal status in Canada, and sport-based grants in order to sustain support for all branch projects and partner programs.

What worked in this programme was trusting, training and working with local community leaders. This enabled the development of meaningful programs and lasting change as these leaders gained access to equipment to sustain long-term sport programming, and learned how to teach life skills through SFD methodology. An example of this is that one of the communities worked with in Guatemala created a community soccer team that trains on a constant basis with the sport equipment we donated and participates in local leagues.

What could have been improved is the process to reach and communicate with partners. United Play International started two branches in a quick manner because the people that reached us seemed very interested and keen, and the freedom was given to use the name and resources to implement their programs as they saw fit. However, without constant follow-up, the new branches failed to materialise and the leading members became disinterested. It has thought that being selective with branch ownership is necessary, and making sure plan for on-going sustainability is in place. It is important to test partner programme’s availability first, and if see if with the right commitment an upgrade to a formal branch is possible.

In terms of results, studies have shown that the workshops have improved positive emotions in the participants. Giving them the sport equipment and manuals to do the activities for free has now promoted a healthier lifestyle by promoting more physical activity. As part of the project there is always a community leader that does the follow-up of the activities and runs independent workshops for the kids.

The United Play International design method may be considered a ‘Best Practice’ because it has created resources that are free to all, and easy to implement (requiring little to no equipment). The resources are designed to be adaptable for EVERYONE and have been used on multiple populations across a variety of different settings. They are designed to promote life skills through sport, in a way that is easy to understand and implement. In an example of adaptability, the games manual was used by the Colombian branch to teach sport for development to soccer coaches from local clubs. These coaches then produced modified soccer games and activities based on SFD principals.

Several organizations run Sport for Development workshops but very few run them with freely donated sport equipment and their designed resources. The innovative part of UPI is that they have all the resources available for free on their website for everyone’s use, and they encourage coaches, teachers, parents, and leaders from around the world to use the resources to make a difference through sport.

United Play International is opened to new partnerships, please do reach out to them if you are interested in the practice. They can help design ways to implement your initiative. As a starting point, identifying the problem you wish to address and how you plan to achieve your goal is essential. Then reaching out to local community leaders, and gathering equipment (ex. through donations/fundraising) is a good way to begin your initiative.