Sherrod (2017) called for more empirical research on strategies designed to foster positive development among youth in the majority world and sport has been identified as a potentially effective grassroots developmental intervention (United Nations, 2005; Whitley et al., 2019). Recognizing the extreme challenges confronting Liberian youth from a civil war and Ebola crisis, a sport-for-development program called Life and Change Experienced Through Sport (L.A.C.E.S.) for marginalized youth was established. L.A.C.E.S. seeks to use sport and character activities to cultivate aspects of positive youth development including social responsibility, personal relationships, peace, and purpose to support the healthy development of Liberian youth. Thus, researchers used a mixed-method quasiexperimental research design to explore these indicators in 181 youth in 3 Liberian communities at the beginning and end of 1 year of the L.A.C.E.S. program. Overall, quantitative survey data based on equal sample sizes of 34 random participants from each community indicated small decreases in attitudes toward violence and increases social responsibility, purpose, and relationship with coaches, with small (.06) to moderate (.36) partial eta square effect sizes (Ferguson, 2009). Interviews explored these indicators of development, and a photojournalistic methodology investigated the experiences, conditions, and relationships that cultivated and impeded the healthy development of Liberian youth, with themes indicating that sport in combination with character-development components was meaningful for development. Limitations, including the lack of a control group and challenges in working with marginalized youth, as well as implications of these findings for promoting peace, purpose, and positive development among other majority world youth are addressed.

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Practitioners and researchers have implemented a host of programs to decrease youth conflict and violence, counter and prevent violent extremism and radicalization, and increase youth’s conflict prevention and resolution skills. This article overviews 1 such program, titled Sport for Social Change, that has been implemented with sports professionals and youth in India, Tajikistan, and Jordan to increase conflict prevention and resolution skills through sporting activities. The conceptual model of this sport for development “train-the-trainer” program is grounded in the contact hypothesis and theory, as well as systems, social–cognitive, self-determination, empowerment, transformative mediation, and intergroup contact theories and research. This model along with the curricula, educational strategies, challenges, limitations, and outcomes of this peace education program are articulated. Further, the article presents lessons learned, a couple of suggestions for future research, and strategies to expand the inclusion of conflict prevention and resolution skills in sport for development programs along with ideas about how to encourage the involvement of more peace psychologists in these programs.