Strong intentions but diminished impact: Following up with former participants in a sport for development and peace setting

•This study illustrates the perspectives of participants who had been distanced from their intervention and openly spoke about their experience.•The study extends previous work on the organizational capacity highlighting key dimensions determining long-term program outcomes.•This study highlights the difficulty of culture change via a temporary intervention emphasizing the importance of long-term sustainable solutions.Sport for development and peace (SDP) scholars have stressed the need for monitor and evaluation efforts to not simply highlight positive outcomes. Potential barriers regarding successful evaluation of SDP programs are the focus on positive and biased perspectives of participants and limited long-term data. Guided by SDP and organizational capacity literature, this study aimed to evaluate an SDP program through the lens of former participants who were willing to discuss their experience and subsequent lifestyle changes. The researchers were particularly interested in the feasibility of long-term habit change through an 8-week intervention. While findings revealed an initial positive impact (e.g. fitness, eating habits, and socializing) because of the program, these results were seemingly mitigated over time due to a lack of additional programming and influence of cultural norms.