Laureus Sport for Good expert attends Commonwealth conference to call for youth leadership in sport

August 22, 2013

Roberto is a young boxer from Rio who changed his life through sport.

Gulafsha is a young football lover from India who promotes women’s rights through the sport she loves.

These are just two remarkable individuals who show how young people have a natural ability to use sport as a powerful tool for development around the world.

That is why we are delighted the Commonwealth have made a commitment to putting young people at the centre of sustainable development of the Sport for Good sector.

Young people of the Commonwealth took centre stage this month as a Commonwealth Sport Development Conference Youth Sport Charter was handed over to representatives of Commonwealth and Government organisations in Glasgow.

The Young People’s Sport Panel, including Laureus’ very own Will Stone, presented the Conference Charter to Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth Secretariat, which had been developed during the recent Commonwealth Sport Development Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

The purpose of the Conference Charter is to provide a focus and a commitment to a youth-centred approach to sport development. 

Louise Martin CBE, Chair of sportscotland and Honorary Secretary of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said: “Through our own Young People’s Sport Panel, I have seen at first hand the enormous contribution young people can, and do, make to the development of sport and sports policy.

“Sport can be the catalyst for change, giving young people experiences and opportunities they might never have had otherwise.  That’s really what’s at the heart of the work we have been doing here to develop a Conference Youth Sport Charter.” 

Follow the Commonwealth Youth Sport for Development Panel on Twitter here for more updates: @CommYouthSDP