LAUSR

Abstract Sport-for-Development (SfD) organizations and practitioners aim to positively impact physical and mental health, contribute to the promotion of peace in post-conflict settings, address a range of societal inequalities, as well as improve community cohesion and build social capital. SfD practitioners regularly align outcomes with international development priorities such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and more specific health and development priorities at the regional and national level. The aim of our paper is to critically analyse factors underpinning the integration of Australian-funded Sport-for-Development programs within the national health and development priorities of Tonga, a small Pacific Island nation. We utilised a qualitative research design including 32 interviews and 5 focus groups, local document analysis and direct observation. Factors underpinning integration included the perceived governance strength of sporting stakeholders; alignment throughout program objectives and evaluation outcomes; inter-agency and inter-personal communication; capacity of the local implementation base and the identification of development ‘champions’. Without foreign funders addressing these critical factors, SfD risks being confined to fragmented and isolated project-based programming with only the potential for contributing to broader health and development priorities.