The Leeds Summit on Community Sport for Development and Diplomacy saw more than 70 participants, practitioners and policy-makers, athletes and academics convene at the University of Leeds over two days in September 2025 to debate the power and potential of community sport as a developmental and diplomatic tool for both local and global impact. ConnectSport CIC was media partner for the event and, in this series of short articles, our reporter Josh Chadwick-Birch spoke to attendees about what they gained from the Summit.

Josh: Hi Adel, please can you tell us about your role?

I run Leeds Hyde Park FC, which is a football club in the Hyde Park area of Leeds. We’re an ‘in the city club’ where we have limited resources and spaces. We get people in to come and play football in Hyde Park.

What are you hoping to gain from this Summit? 

I think coming in is an eye-opener, networking with other people, hearing their stories and then networking with others and seeing other organisations. How they operate and the way they operate things, hear everyone’s ideas and share some ideas.

What key development would you like to see happen in community sport over the next five years?

I think we definitely need more facilities. Maybe it could start within schools and then outreach with clubs, and that’s what will make a difference, because we need more facilities and more money. More money to be invested within sport, because there’s a lot of barriers out there and loads of hurdles. I personally give up sometimes in applying for funding, I just do things myself and use my own resources instead of spending so much time searching to find the money and resources. 

Why should a funder invest in Leeds Hyde Park Football Club? 

Because we are an ‘in the city club’. Most of the kids who come to Hyde Park Football Club do not have a garden, so we offer that space for them to come and play football, we never turn anyone away. Everybody is welcome. We sponsor loads of children within the local community - no money, no problem. We make a difference within the local community and to the local kids, we champion that. If the kids weren’t so engaged, lots of them would be in the streets, throwing (plastic bottles) at cars, spray painting or doing all sorts of things. We pick them up and they come play with us. We’re not just football, we’re a youth club where they play other games, or engage in other things like reading. We get them off the street. The feedback we have from the schools, social workers and people around the area is like ‘wow’, and that we’re making a big difference within the community. We don’t like to show off about it, we keep it internal, because we want to look after as many kids as possible. 

Thanks for speaking to ConnectSport, Adel.

Find out more at leedshydeparkfc.org.uk

Read the Leeds Declaration on Community Sport for Development & Diplomacy.

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