Sport, forced displacement and care work: The invisible labour of sport for development programming

This article critically examines the experiences of staff at Free Play, a non-profit Sport for Development organization in a Western Canadian city, as they engaged in care work to support Afghan refugee children through trauma-informed physical activity and arts-based programming. The research is situated within a broader community-based participatory research partnership with the Afghan refugee community. Our analysis draws primarily from in-depth interviews with six frontline staff and two senior managers – many of whom have migration backgrounds themselves – foregrounding the perspectives of those directly engaged in paid care work. Their reflections illuminate the invisible emotional labour, the ethical dilemmas and the relational dynamics that shape everyday care work in sport-for-development organizations against the political-economic backdrop of entrenched systemic inequities in the resettlement landscape, the non-profit industrial complex and the broader care economy. This study contributes to critical sport studies and refugee resettlement scholarship by offering both practical and theoretical insights into how Sport for Development organizations can design inclusive, responsive programming that aligns with the lived realities of displaced populations while supporting frontline staff who deliver it.