About the project

Leading the Game – Shaping the Future of Sport Governance

YOULEAD addresses one of the structural gaps in European sport: the limited presence of young people in governance and decision-making roles. While youth are highly active in sport as athletes and volunteers, their participation rarely extends to leadership and strategic positions.

The project focuses on building practical and institutional pathways that enable young people — particularly young women — to transition from participation to leadership. Rather than temporary engagement, YOULEAD promotes long-term integration of youth within governance systems.

By combining research, education, pilot implementation and policy development, YOULEAD supports sport organisations in modernising governance structures and creating more balanced, representative leadership models.

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 In many European sport organisations, people under 30 hold less than 10% of board-level positions.

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 Across European sport governance structures, women occupy only around 20–30% of leadership positions, with even lower representation among young women.

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In many European sport federations, the average age of board members is over 50, while individuals under 35 represent less than 15% of decision-making bodies.

What We Aim to Achieve

YOULEAD aims to:

  • Increase youth representation in sport governance bodies
  • Improve gender balance in leadership and decision-making roles
  • Establish structured pathways for youth integration
  • Strengthen governance literacy and leadership competences among young people
  • Support sport organisations in adapting governance models
  • Foster intergenerational dialogue between senior leaders and emerging youth leaders
  • Develop scalable governance practices that can be replicated across Europe

  • YOULEAD’s work is:

    • Structural – focusing on institutional change, not symbolic participation
    • Educational – building governance knowledge and leadership skills
    • Collaborative – engaging youth and senior decision-makers together
    • Evidence-based – grounded in research and mapping of current gaps
    • Practical – tested through pilot actions in real governance environments
    • European – connecting partners and governance systems across countries
    • European – connecting partners and governance systems across countries

Young people represent the present and future of sport communities, yet they remain underrepresented in decision-making spaces that shape policies, priorities, and resources.

Without structured inclusion:

  • Youth perspectives remain unheard
  • Governance bodies risk becoming disconnected from new generations
  • Gender imbalance persists
  • Leadership pipelines remain limited

YOULEAD works to ensure that youth are not only participants in sport — but co-creators of its future direction.

In YOULEAD, Leading the Game means:

  • Moving from participation to decision-making
  • Taking responsibility within governance structures
  • Contributing to strategic planning and policy development
  • Challenging gender imbalance in leadership
  • Building confidence and institutional competence
  • Creating sustainable leadership pathways for future generations

5 Countries Involved

8 Project Partners

30-Month Duration

January 2025 to June 2027 

Why YOULEAD Matters

  • It modernises sport governance structures
  • It strengthens youth leadership pipelines
  • It promotes gender-balanced decision-making
  • It supports long-term institutional sustainability
  • It aligns sport governance with European inclusion priorities
  • It builds a new generation of leaders ready to shape sport policy

 

YOULEAD is not about preparing youth for the future — it is about giving them a seat at the table today.