On 29 April 2026, TAFISA hosted its bi-monthly Mission 2030 webinar titled "From Heritage to Future: Revitalising Traditional Sports and Games for Today's Youth." The session brought together international experts to explore how to successfully revitalise traditional sports and games (TSGs) to benefit communities and youth.
The webinar was moderated by Frigga Franke (Project Coordinator, TAFISA). The webinar opened with an insightful impulse delivered by Simon Peter Tumukunde, Founder and President of CHEZA. He introduced CHEZA as a youth-led organisation established in 2014, dedicated to reviving, evolving, and globalising Traditional African Sports through innovation and added value. During his presentation, he shared an overview of CHEZA's flagship sport, Kwepena, as well as the organisation's broader approach and core activities. He concluded by encouraging participants to recognise the value of Traditional Sports and Games (TSGs) in fostering key life skills among children and youth, particularly emphasising the power of collective effort.
After the Impulse presentation, Pat Quigley from Limerick Sport Partnership introduced the TAFISA European Sport for All Games that are scheduled for 7th to 10th August, 2026 in Limerick, Ireland. The European Sport for All Games, which is hosted by Limerick Sports Partnership in partnership with TAFISA, aims to bring together communities, cultures, and traditions from across Europe to celebrate inclusion, participation, and diversity through Sport for All. The Limerick 2026 Games will feature a vibrant programme of traditional, emerging, and recreational sports and games, as well as cultural performances, workshops, and events across the city and county. More details can be found here - https://limericksportforall.ie/
You can watch the webinar below or on YouTube:
The panel discussions featured valuable insights from Dr Paidamoyo Mandizvidza from the African Traditional Sports and Games Confederation, Dr Jack Sugden from Liverpool John Moores University, Mariele Depeuter from the Government of Nunavut and Tracy Mahedy from Limerick Sports Partnership. The discussion highlighted the benefits of TSGs in communities and also the role digitalisation can play in revitalising and increasing the reach of TSGs across communities. The panel ended with essential ways TSGs can be revitalised, and some points mentioned include: thorough education, documentation, global and institutionalised support and information spread through media and other platforms.
Dr Paidamoyo Mandizvidza showed us some examples of TSGs in her community and how they are played.
Krish Iyengar from Sportz Village Foundation presented a case study sharing the work of Sportz Village and how TSGs are incorporated into their approaches. He emphasised the need for revitalising TSGs as they are a useful pathway to accessing communities.
Participants had the opportunity to contribute to the webinar via Mentimeter and also ask the panellists questions.
