Johannesburg was an incredible host city for the Beyond Sport Summit & Awards 2014. With nearly 600 leaders in business, sports, development, philanthropy, and government attending throughout the three days and multiple events taking place all over the city on key topics around the notion of youth leadership. The sixth annual global event was a true success and one of most memorable Beyond Sport events to date. 

Day 1

The first day consisted of community site visits around Soweto and Johannesburg that focused on the amazing work taking place in the City. Delegates had the chance to experience grassroot work in action by choosing a sport for social change project to visit in the city of Johannesburg. The delegates engaged with participants, took part in activities and discussed challenges and opportunities with programme leaders.

The site visits available to delegates were:

NBA Africa and Royal Bafokeng Nation - The Royal Bafokeng Jr. NBA Program is a partnership between Royal Bafokeng Sports and the programme. It is a school-based basketball development initiative for boys and girls with a focus on teaching health, wellness and life skills.

UNICEF & Sportstec - The UNICEF Sport for Development programme focuses on delivering quality and quantity physical education within schools and is implemented in partnership with Sportstec and MRP Foundation.

Grassroot Soccer – Football for Hope Centre - Grassroot Soccer (GRS) works to prevent the spread of HIV by using the world’s most popular game to break down barriers, build trust, educate young people to adopt healthy behaviours, and provide referrals for testing and treatment.

Fight With Insight – The programme uses boxing to provide young offenders with an outlet for the natural aggression and risk-taking behaviours that many youth express as violence, alcohol and substance abuse.

Diepsloot Mountain Bike Academy - The Diepsloot Mountain Bike Academy (DMA) is a sports development and youth empowerment programme based at Northern Farm in Johannesburg. The multi-faceted project uses cycling as a means to expose the youth of Diepsloot to a greater outlook on life and enable them to discover their innate nobility and potential.

 Day 2

On the second day, special events on key issues were held in partnership with expert organisations at the Nike Centre in Soweto that was built on the legacy for the 2010 World cup, the Nike Football Training Centre will be transformed into a festival of insight of insight and innovation on Day 2 of the Summit. Delegates had the chance to play multiple sports on the pitch (from rugby to football to dance) learn from experts in the shade of bedouin tents, and share best practices in the centre’s interactive clubhouse.

The day was split into deep-dive sessions and on-pitch activities, the deep-dive sessions were as follows:

Employability and Financial Inclusion, hosted by Absa, Member of Barclays – The session focused on the global issue of youth unemployment and the role of sport for social change programmes, corporate partners and sport organisations in addressing it.

Accessibility and Inclusion – The session focused on different social issues around access and inclusion where sport plays a role, and how we as the sport for social change sector can improve it.

Beyond Health, hosted by Nestlé – The session focused on the role of sport in addressing prominent health issues, with a particular focus on the risks of physical inactivity.

Urban Communities: Using sport to tackle youth violence, hosted by City of Johannesburg – Moving the conversation on from the Beyond Sport Summit in Philadelphia, 2013, this year the Urban Communities Symposium focussed once again on how sport can be used to tackle violence and youth crime in major cities.

Beyond Cricket, hosted by Cricket South Africa - This event focused on the global challenges and best practices that are used within cricket to tackle social issues from different sector perspectives.

Employability and Financial Inclusion, hosted by Absa, Member of Barclays - This session focussed on the global issue of youth unemployment and the role of sport for social change programmes, corporate partners and sport organisations in addressing it.

Children's Rights and Sport, hosted by UNICEF - This session focused on ensuring children’s rights in, around and through sport. Making the case for safeguarding; the risks and opportunities around major events; and placing a spotlight on how sport can support children’s rights to education.

The on-pitch activities were as follows:

Safeguarding Children in Sport, led by UNICEF - Through a set of identified role play scenarios, delegates worked with others to identify, understand and take action to address three different child safeguarding issues in sport, leading to practical ways of mitigating risks to children in sport for development programmes.

Beyond Cricket, led by Cricket South Africa and KFC SA - Cricket South Africa’s, KFC Mini-Cricket program, showcased one of the governing body’s leading sport for development programmes where cricket is introduced to boys and girls from the age of four to 14, and promotes an active and balanced lifestyle while learning the game. More than 100,000 children participate in the programme annually.

Employability and Financial Inclusion, led by Grassroot Soccer - Delegates learnt about Grassroot Soccer’s new financial education curriculum by participating in an interactive session called “Save & Spend!” Delegates explored how football can bring youth together to learn how to save, spend, and make sound financial choices.

Urban Communities, led by Move This World - Harnessing the power of dance, delegates took part in this interactive session which will highlight the creative methods used to through dance to build trust, reduce fear and inspire change within communities.

Children’s Rights and Sport, led by UNICEF SA - Delegates had the opportunity to be led by high school learners who are not afraid to tackle ‘taboos’ and stigmas in a thought-provoking session. The Sport for Development Youth Leadership programme is not prescriptive but acts as an incubator, using Positive Youth Development methodology for young people to explore and develop responses to negative social issues faced at their schools.

Beyond Health, led by Sport for Social Change Network - Creating early positive experiences with sport and play is essential to addressing the physical inactivity crisis. Members of the Sport for Social Change Network took delegates through a range of activities that are aimed at integrating physical activity into daily life.

Employability and Financial Inclusion, led by Coaches across Continents - Coaches Across Continents demonstrated how they effectively partner with local organisations to implement their award-winning ‘Hat-Trick Initiative’, focusing on issues related to social inclusion. This includes female empowerment, gender equality, conflict resolution, social inclusion and key life skills.

Inclusion and Accessibility, led by The Change Foundation - With a unique delivery tool to engage young people with a disability, delegates learnt effective ways to engage young people with a disability. This session will showcase how to best adapt existing games and programmes to be more inclusive and aware through unique delivery of tools that engage young people with a disability.

Day two also saw former Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe, former Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs right back Jimmy Tau, former Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Brian Baloyi and former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Mark Fish, along with 20 children from local Soweto schools take to the pitch to recreate the most fiercely contests match in African football, the Soweto Derby.

The evening of Day 2 played host to the evening reception for all delegates and speakers at Chaf Pozi on the outskirts of Johannesburg. The event saw the naming of 8 new Johannesburg Young Ambassadors which can be seen here and the crowning of the Johannesburg Impact Award - awarded to Diepsloot Mountain Bike Academy as well as a look back on the day's events and networking. 

 Day 3

The third and final day of the Summit took place at Vodacom World, which was transformed into a hub of high level leaders. Panels and talks include:

• The Innovation Panel
• Expert Talks:
  • -          The Role of Government in Empowering the Young
  • -          Leaders of Tomorrow - Building Youth Voices Through Community                         Leadership In Sport
  • -          Leveraging CSI to Engage a Young, Socially-Conscious Generation
  • -          Sport in Education as a Tool for Youth Leadership and Development
• The Leadership Panel
• Inspire to Act Sessions
  • -          Platforms and Role Models
  • -          Innovations and Creations
• The BIG Interview

Day Three at the Summit hosted the launch of the International Safeguards aiming to make sport safer for children by the international safeguarding children in sport working group. The safeguards were launched in conjunction with UNICEF and by Amanda Dlamini, South Africa National Soccer Player and Jockey South Africa ambassador. The safeguards can be viewed here

Day Three also host the Beyond Sport Awards 2014, supported by Sport Relief, where the best and most impactful projects from across the globe using sport for social change were be celebrated and awarded. The winners can be viewed here

Organisations Attended

Adidas, Barclays, BT Sport, Charlton Athletic Football Club, Chevrolet SA, Comic Relief, Commonwealth Games Federation, Cricket South Africa, Eagles Youth Partnership, Euroleague Properties SA, Fight4Peace, Gauteng Dept of Education, Gauteng Sports Council, GivenGain, Grassroot Soccer, ICC, International Table Tennis Federation, International Youth Foundation, Investec, Laureus, Magic Bus UK, The Mayor of London's Sports Legacy Fund, MLSE Foundation, NBA, NCAA, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Nestlé, One Young World, Philadelphia Eagles, Premiership Rugby, SAFA, SAFA Development Agency, San Francisco Giants, Sport and Recreation SA, Sport Industry Group SA, SportsTec, Standard Chartered Bank, streetfootballworld, SuperSport, Telkom, The British Council, Time and Fortune SA, Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, UK Sport, UNICEF, University of Johannesburg, University of Massachusetts and WNBA