Sport as a Resource for Human Development

People have played sports since ancient days. Over time, many different kinds of sports have evolved, such as individual sports, team sports, informally organized sports, extreme sports, and highly organized and elite sports. These different kinds of sports can have a positive effect on individuals and societies in many different ways.

For example, sport can provide opportunities to play and have fun, compete, relieve boredom by giving structure to free time, promote socialization by introducing rules to be followed, cooperate with others to achieve goals, challenge human limits and so much more.

These are only a few of the ways that different sports have been seen to contribute to the development of young people. In prevention, we see these as protective factors or assets that can be potentially developed through sport and can help prevent a range of problems, including substance abuse.

(Source: UN Documentation on how to stop drug abuse with sports)