Since 2024, the Global Sport for Good Initiative has brought together four international sports federations – World Rugby, FIBA (Basketball), World Athletics and BWF (Badminton) – and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to develop and harness the role that sport participation has in enhancing wellbeing, inclusion and community development globally.
The Global Sport for Good Initiative aims to strengthen programmes across World Rugby and partner international federations, broaden participation in sport, and increase its contribution to resilient communities, health and wellbeing, education and inclusion. To achieve these outcomes, World Rugby, the IOC and partner federations are placing community players’ needs at the centre of sport delivery, embedding this approach in grassroots coach education and workforce development, and improving how they measure and demonstrate impact.
Consequently, the initiative prioritises:
1. Strengthening the delivery of sports by supporting coaches and community practitioners to put participant needs at the centre of how sport is delivered, while building their skills to increase access to sport, and create positive societal change.
2. World Rugby, sharing, exchanging and evidencing impact by unions and regions around the globe with the tools and knowledge to better measure, improve and understand the outcomes of their community training and education programmes, with a focus on health and wellbeing, inclusion, education and community development.
3. Strengthen peer learning and knowledge sharing between the four international federations, unions, regions and partners to strengthen delivery of community sport programmes and create opportunities to extend the reach and impact of sport, including through collaboration with broader stakeholders and partners.
Through these actions, the initiative aims to deliver the following results:
1. Societal impact is systematically strengthened within the strategies, programmes, and operations of World Rugby, member regions and member unions, contributing to more sustainable, inclusive, and impactful sport systems.
2. World Rugby, member regions and unions increase the design and delivery of inclusive sport opportunities, resulting in greater participation and enhanced development of resilience, life skills, and other positive outcomes among participants.
3. Coaches, educators, and sport practitioners across World Rugby systems are strengthened and recognised as key actors in delivering positive societal outcomes through sport.
4. World Rugby, regions and our member unions increasingly position and leverage sport as a tool for societal impact, advancing health, education, inclusion, and broader development outcomes through their policies, programmes, and partnerships.
Since its launch in 2024, the initiative has supported capacity building of key groups across the four IFs and their networks, including Development Commissions at World Athletics, Regional and Union Training Managers at World Rugby, Local Facilitators at FIBA Foundation, and Community Educators at BWF. 500+ coaches, educators and 148 National Federations across 122 countries and 5 continents have been engaged globally. Each IF has also developed a Theory of Change to align its work with shared outcomes and indicators, supported by a common Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) approach.
Guided by a vision of a future where sport is part of everyday life for more people Global Sport for Good is part of the Olympic movement’s aim to positively transform lives through sport.
World Rugby Head of Education, Laws and Compliance Jock Peggie spoke of his pride in the project and the role of our Regional Training Managers “Putting young people at the heart of coaching both in how we deliver, ensuring we are supporting them to play an active role in wider society is a founding principle of rugby union and a key aim of World Rugby.
“I’m proud of how our Regional Training Managers, delivering all around the globe are empowering regions and unions to look closely at the way we bring young people into our sport and help coaches to encourage those young people to lead active lives wherever they grow up.”
