Sport and youth crime prevention

by Stuart Felce

UK director for strategic business relationships, Street Games

For more than ten years I’ve led the Sport and Safer strategy at StreetGames – a national sporting organisation committed to bringing sport to the doorsteps of young people in underserved communities.

Ten years of partnerships. Ten years of learning. Ten years of seeing what happens when sport shows up consistently where it’s needed most, and here’s what I now know: a decade of sport and youth crime prevention has changed many young people’s lives through sport, but we’re only getting started.

The policy moment is here

The conversation has changed.

Government strategies now talk about Safer Streets, Youth Matters, Child Poverty, Pride in Place, Freedom from Violence and Abuse and Fit for the Future.

And the common thread in all of these? That place matters, prevention matters and community matters.

The Government’s emerging Young Futures Programme – particularly its Prevention Partnerships and Hub model.

At StreetGames we have been doing something similar: identify vulnerable young people, focus on those in the 30% most underserved communities, connect them with trusted adults and engage them through high-quality, hyper-local sport, via a network of Community Partners.

The evidence has grown up

A decade ago, much of our work was powered by instinct and experience, but today it’s backed by robust research.

Our Theory of Change – Sport, Youth Offending and Serious Youth Violence was authored by Loughborough University, resourced by the Youth Endowment Fund and shaped with input from Sport England.

It sets out clearly how sport can reduce risk factors linked to youth offending while strengthening protective factors that keep young people safe.

That theory underpinned the Ministry of Justice’s £5m Youth Justice Sport Fund, which now informs more than a dozen place-based partnerships with Active Partnerships, Police and Crime Commissioners and Violence Reduction Units.

This isn’t theory gathering dust, but action that's shaping investment and practice, and that proves that when sport is delivered intentionally, it protects.

Why sport on the doorstep works

At StreetGames, we focus on doorstep sport – making it accessible, affordable and local. But this isn’t just about keeping young people busy. It’s about building identity.

Well-designed sport creates trusted adult relationships, safe spaces in the heart of communities, positive peer networks, emotional regulation and self-control, plus a sense of belonging.

These are protective factors – and protective factors matter.

A decade of sport and youth crime prevention has changed many young people’s lives through sport, but we’re only getting started.

When young people feel seen and connected, they are less likely to engage in harm and when they feel pride in their street or estate, they are less likely to damage it.

Doorstep sport also changes how places feel. A park filled with organised activity feels different. A street reclaimed for play feels different.

Putting a value on wellbeing

But ultimately, why does this matter? Recently, we commissioned State of Life to conduct a social value study.

The research organisation looked at survey data from around 1,000 young people taking part in StreetGames’ doorstep sport, which many had entered through youth crime prevention pathways.

Using the WELLBY approach set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance, the study estimated that the wellbeing uplift associated with participation equates to approximately £12,986 per young person, assuming the improvement lasts for one year.

That’s not a participation statistic. That’s the wellbeing value of doorstep sport.

Raising the bar

Our current Youth Endowment Fund-backed evaluation, Towards Sport, is using randomised control trials – the gold standard in evaluation. Results will land next year and we can’t wait!

But one thing is already clear: sport must be intentional. It must understand referral pathways. It must align with youth justice priorities. It must embed strong monitoring and learning. It must work in partnership, not in isolation.

Over the last decade, as a sporting organisation, we’ve become fluent in the youth justice system’s language – concepts and phrases such as trusted adults, contextual safeguarding, public health principles, system impact – and its significance.

This understanding has led us to a key learning: sport cannot simply turn up. It has to fit.

A decade in and still learning

We know many of Sport England system partners and Active Partnerships are active — or increasingly curious — in this space.

That’s encouraging because prevention is long-term work that requires humility, partnership and constant learning.

There is still more to understand and strengthen but the direction is clear.

Ultimately, this work is about supporting place-based community partners to support and protect vulnerable young people, getting them more physically active along the way.

Think pro-social (not anti-social), build protective factors (not just manage risk) and, above all, use sport not as distraction, but as deliberate prevention and keep putting it where it works best and is needed the most.

These subjects, and more, will now become a series of deep-dive webinars that will be delivered in partnership with Sport England and the Active Partnerships National Organisation (APNO), and you can access the Quarterly Learning Session we had last week with Sport England.

Together we will get more young people into sport and physical activity and away from crime.