Sport Matters

07/09/2026

Sep 06, 2026 | The ONOC International Relations Commission has commenced a two-day in-person meeting in Suva to strengthen ONOC's regional and international engagement and map priority areas of work through 2026 and 2027.

21/05/2026

Sport Matters CEO Jackie Lauff joined the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education on Thursday as a guest speaker for its webinar on 'Sport and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)'.
The discussion explored how sport and physical activity contributes effectively to the achievement of the SDGs, moving beyond broad policy discussions toward practical, context-sensitive solutions and impacts.


The International Platform on Sport and Development
https://www.icsspe.org/content/icsspe-webinar-sport-and-sustainable-development-goals

14/05/2026

Great piece on Olympian and Sport Matters Board member Ryan Pini.
"Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini has built a career that helped put the Pacific on the global swimming map."

From being dragged to the swimming pool as a child to racing in an Olympic final against the greatest swimmer of all time, Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini has built a career that helped put the Pacific on the global swimming map.

29/04/2026

Sport as the delivery mechanism. Communities as the foundation. Women at the centre. That's the development model 2026 Emerging Leader Keesha Morikei Booth is building.

Keesha is a Papua New Guinean-Australian leader and General Manager of Grass Skirt Project and Program Manager on an ADB-funded regional initiative advancing gender equality in fragile and conflict-affected contexts across PNG. She translates what the bilateral relationship too often overlooks: the most durable economic development in PNG runs through communities, through women, and through the infrastructure built around them. Sport is the delivery mechanism, not as recreation, but as the most trusted community infrastructure in PNG. GSP's forecast SROI projects a 7.9:1 social return between 2026 and 2030. That is a business case.

Keesha holds a Bachelor of Social Work from James Cook University with experience in social entrepreneurship. She is mother to Zion and Zan and brings to the 2026 ELD a conviction that bilums and boardrooms have always presented the same argument, and it is time the same people were in both rooms.

Welcome to this year's cohort of Emerging Leaders, Keesha!

28/04/2026

Great way to start Day 3 at ....
"Sport is Ceremony: Kinship, Capital and Feminist Futures in the Pacific"

Grass Skirt Project

06/04/2026

Celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace today, April 6, highlighting the campaign which is a symbolic gesture meant to demonstrate a commitment to peace, inclusion, and equity through sport.
Holding up a white card, like our participants are here, signifies that sport is a powerful tool for building peaceful, inclusive societies and fostering dialogue.


Australian High Commission, Vanuatu The International Platform on Sport and Development

05/04/2026

Celebrating 2026, tomorrow April 6 ...

"The 2026 International Day of Sport for Development and Peace will spotlight the theme “Sport: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers,” underscoring sport’s unique capacity to foster connection, inclusion, and peace in an increasingly fragmented world."

https://share.google/EoyBq4W4OHvjCRfWf

The purpose of the day is to recognize the positive influence that sport can have on the advancement of human rights, and social and economic development.

02/04/2026

April 6