Power of Play

Play and sport can be deeply social forces that shape who feels welcome, who is seen as belonging, and who is pushed to the edges. In this session, we explore the transformative power of play: how play can build community, create openings for joy and identity, and also reveal the rules about who gets to participate.

We’ll hear from three speakers whose work and lived experience show how play matters across different settings. John Nsabimana, a UNICEF Goodwill Canada Ambassador, reflects on soccer as more than a game: a source of connection and a right to play shaped by his experiences growing up as a refugee after fleeing the Rwandan genocide. Dr Lindsey A Freeman (SFU Sociology and Anthropology) brings an ethnographic lens to women’s soccer, focusing on the everyday moments in which gender and identity surface in players’ relationships and experiences. Rachel Ramsden (UBC School of Population and Public Health) shifts the conversation to early childhood, examining the important role of outdoor play in children’s everyday experiences, and how integrating risky play can be a mechanism for resilience in childhood.

Across these perspectives, we can ask: What does play make possible? Who is encouraged to play and under what conditions? How can we treat play as an open space for learning, agency, and social change?