"They play, we educate"

This paper explores the subjective experiences that benefactors and beneficiaries construct about football in a Sport for Development intervention given during non-school hours for children and young people in a district of Peru. The study discusses how the climate of fear renders Peru a fertile ground for Sport for Development Interventions that seek to offer an alternative to potential at-risk youth. The research juxtaposes the narrative of ‘Youth-at-Risk’ by raising up the voices of young male beneficiaries. By using the concept of ‘strategic’ agency, the study describes how the agendas of the beneficiaries on becoming part of the intervention are grounded in the socio-economic forces where they are situated.