Young people do not experience sport, education, health and the environment as separate parts of their lives. The communities where they train and live are the same communities where they learn and grow. Creating opportunities through sport therefore also means helping young people understand their responsibility to the spaces around them.

This past weekend, that learning took a different form at the DBA Africa Nairobi Academy.

Through DBA Africa’s partnership with Bins Group, Nairobi City County Environmental Officer Emmanuel Okal joined Academy participants for an interactive session on environmental protection and responsible waste management. The session brought environmental education directly into the Academy environment, connecting practical knowledge with values the young players already encounter through sport.

At the centre of the partnership is a shared belief that young people should not simply inherit the environmental challenges facing their communities. They should have the knowledge, confidence and opportunities to become part of addressing them.

Small Choices, Wider Responsibility

Okal's session began with something every participant encounters every day: waste.

The young players learnt how to identify organic, recyclable and general waste and why separating waste correctly matters. They were taken through the practical process of identifying, sorting and disposing of waste responsibly, reinforcing the idea that environmental protection starts with individual behaviour.

The session also explored reducing unnecessary consumption, reusing items before discarding them, recycling correctly and composting organic waste.These are simple actions, but that is precisely the point. Environmental responsibility is not limited to large conservation projects. It is built through everyday habits, repeated across homes, schools, sports grounds and communities.

For young people, understanding that connection is important. The quality of the environments in which they grow up directly affects their health, safety and wellbeing. Waste, pollution and poorly maintained community spaces are therefore not distant environmental issues. They are issues young people encounter in the places where they live and play.

“Sustainability starts with understanding that our everyday choices have an impact. Through this partnership, we want young people to gain practical environmental knowledge, but also to see themselves as part of the solution. If those habits begin early and are carried back into homes, schools and communities, the impact goes far beyond a single activity.”

Walter Olando, CSR Consultant, Bins Group 

The Values of Sport Beyond the Pitch

There is a natural connection between environmental responsibility and the lessons DBA Africa seeks to develop through sport.

Sports teams rely on collective responsibility. Players learn that their individual actions affect the wider group. They learn discipline, respect, teamwork and leadership, values that are equally important when thinking about responsibility towards shared spaces and the wider community.

This is where Sport for Development can go further than simply providing access to physical activity.

A young person learning leadership through sport should also be encouraged to lead positively elsewhere. A player learning respect for teammates can extend that respect to their school and community. The discipline required to train consistently can also shape the everyday habits that determine how they treat their environment.

DBA Africa's role is therefore not simply to develop better athletes. Our academies are spaces through which young people can gain skills, values and experiences that prepare them to become responsible members and leaders within their communities.

“We want the lessons our young people learn through the Academy to matter beyond the rugby pitch. The same teamwork, discipline and responsibility we expect during training can be applied to how they treat their schools, homes and communities. This partnership gives our players the opportunity to learn that and, importantly, to put it into practice.”

Philip Wamae, Head of Academies, DBA Africa 

Turning Knowledge Into Action

Importantly, the programme does not end with environmental education.

The next stage will move participants from learning to practical community action through a supervised community clean-up. Youth development becomes meaningful when we give young people the opportunity to use what they learn to positively shape the world around them. Young people will apply what they have learned about responsible waste collection, segregation and disposal while working together to improve a shared community space. The final stage will connect sport with conservation through team activities and tree planting. 

That progression matters because knowledge becomes more powerful when young people are given the opportunity to act on it.

This weekend was about helping young athletes recognise that they have agency. Their choices matter, their actions affect other people and caring for a community is a responsibility shared by everyone who belongs to it.

For DBA Africa and Bins Group, this is what meaningful partnership can look like: combining expertise to give young people knowledge, then creating opportunities for them to turn that knowledge into action.

Changing lives through sport does not stop at the touchline. It is about helping young people take what they learn through sport and use it to build healthier, safer and more sustainable communities.