Owen Willis

Sport and Development: the Early Years of Mathare Youth Sports Association Owen Willis

The role of sport in international development has only recently begun to attract serious academic interest. The case study that is central to this volume offers an intriguing view of the interrelationship between sport and grassroots development. Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) is an innovative organization in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, that links youth with sport and developmental initiatives. From humble beginnings, MYSA has become one of the largest grassroots organizations in Kenya. MYSA affords some exciting avenues for research, particularly regarding the role of youth in development, the ability of sport to challenge gender stereotypes and the overarching question of the relationship between sport and development. As relevant now as when it was originally written in 1999, this book traces the early years of one of the most remarkable development organizations in the world. MYSA continues to go from strength to strength, and has even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.