Someone knows your name.
A regular group offers opportunities to be welcomed, share a goal and encourage a teammate. For someone rebuilding life in an unfamiliar place, belonging can begin with a familiar face and a reason to return.
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Trauma Informed Sports
A place to move.
Space to rebuild.
Recovery is personal. A welcoming game, a trusted coach and the freedom to take part at your own pace can offer a place to begin.
Our approach
Make room.
Build trust.
Move together.
People carry experiences that are not always visible from the touchline.
Displacement and homelessness can bring uncertainty, loss and difficult experiences. A trauma-informed approach asks us to notice the person behind a response and consider what helps them feel safe enough to participate.
Street FC’s stories show how a game, a trusted relationship or a familiar physical activity can become part of someone’s everyday support. Each person’s experience is different. Sport supports community and wellbeing; it is not a substitute for professional mental-health care.
How sport may help
Small experiences.
Meaningful possibilities.
A say in what happens next.
Choosing an activity, asking for a break or setting a personal goal creates opportunities to practise making decisions. Participation should leave room for a person’s own pace, boundaries and preferences.
Another way through a difficult moment.
For some people, an enjoyable walk, a game or an appropriately supported strength session can be a useful coping activity. Research also suggests possible benefits for sleep and mood, although results vary. Explore the evidence below.
Something to build on.
Learning a skill or helping a teammate offers a chance to experience progress and contribution. The aim can be as simple as feeling comfortable enough to join in again. Winning is only one small part of the game.
These are opportunities a supportive setting can offer, not guaranteed outcomes. The way an activity is organised matters as much as the activity itself.
Medical and scientific evidence
Promising research.
An honest picture.
There is scientific support for exploring exercise as part of trauma recovery. There is not proof that sport alone cures trauma or PTSD.
PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is a specific mental-health condition. Research on PTSD treatment helps inform this conversation, but it does not describe every person who has experienced trauma.
Some studies find benefits.
Yuan and colleagues combined results from 12 trials and found a small average improvement in PTSD symptoms, alongside improvements in sleep, anxiety and depression. The authors also noted limitations including small samples and differences between studies.
Read the research on PubMedThe findings are mixed.
A separate review, The therapeutic potential of exercise in post-traumatic stress disorder and its underlying mechanisms, found no clear overall improvement in PTSD symptoms when it pooled the human trials. Different study selections and methods can lead reviews to different conclusions.
Read the review on PubMedWhat this means for Street FC
These studies examine structured exercise interventions, often with adults receiving care. They do not establish that community football or weightlifting treats PTSD in refugee children, and they have not evaluated Street FC’s programme.
The evidence gives us a reason to value movement while remaining careful about medical claims. Street FC’s role is to offer opportunities for participation, connection and encouragement. People who need trauma treatment should also have access to qualified mental-health professionals.
The 2023 VA/DoD clinical guideline for PTSD (PDF) found insufficient evidence to recommend for or against aerobic or non-aerobic exercise specifically as PTSD treatment. This is a limit on what can be claimed clinically, not a reason to dismiss an activity someone enjoys.
Principles that guide the approach
Participation with care.
Safety and trust
Explain what will happen and agree clear boundaries. Consider safe surfaces, suitable equipment and qualified supervision. Sport should never involve humiliation or exercise used as punishment.
Voice and choice
Offer ways to join, adapt, pause or stop. Ask before physical contact and never require someone to share their trauma story. A person’s choice to sit out deserves respect.
Shared participation
Consider language, disability, culture and cost. Adapt activities to the individual and the setting; inclusion and physical safety need to go together.
Strengths and connection
Notice what people can do, what they enjoy and what they can share. Someone receiving support today may offer encouragement to a teammate tomorrow.
Background reading: SAMHSA’s trauma-informed approach principles ↗. Contact the Street FC team to discuss current activities.
STRENGTH
TO PASS ON.
TO PASS ON.
One personal journey
Finding a way forward.
Then helping others.
A young refugee began using movement to manage difficult moments. Over time, he started sharing what helped him with other children. Today, he is a powerlifting coach.
Read his storyThere is a place for you here
Be part of the next chapter.
Play. Volunteer. Share a skill. Help someone find their team.