The Sport for Social Change Network (SSCN) was established in February 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya at a meeting convened by Nike and attended by 110 delegates from 43 organisations and 17 countries.  Nike were being approached by organisations operating in Africa in sport for development and peace for support and advocated for the network to coordinate theirs and others’ response to the sector.

Further meetings were held in Namibia and Morocco with an initial idea of creating a network of chapters of the network across Africa. Also founded in 2007 by Nike and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), was the SSCN Brazil which has 81 member institutions and is still active today.  In 2011, Nike partnered with the Mayor of the City of London, Active Communities Network, and Community Action Zone to establish the SSCN London.  Apart from South Africa and Brazil the other envisioned chapters of the network were not sustained.

In Southern Africa, Nike partnered with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) Youth Development through Football programme to accelerate the development of a chapter in South Africa and appointed Altus Sport as convenors of the network.  A decision was made to formalise the network in South Africa with 20 sports for development and peace organisations gathering in May 2008 to establish the SSCN South Africa at a meeting also attended by the South Africa Department of Sport and Recreation.

Membership of the SSCN South Africa was open to organisations working for the upliftment of youth using sport as a tool for development and with a willingness to collaborate by sharing knowledge and information for the good of the communities, the youth involved in member organisation’s programs and the member organisations themselves.

In 2012 the SSCN was registered as an independent legal entity in South Africa with a board elected by its members.  This formed part of the succession strategy allowing Nike and GIZ to withdraw from the governance and financial support of the network.  In 2014 with no new funding in the pipeline and Nike and the GIZ exiting, the SSCN South Africa was sustained by support from the South Africa Department of Sport and Recreation and became its preferred partner for sport for social change projects.  Further partnerships were then formed with local government departments in Johannesburg.

In 2019, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) decided to invest in Sport for Development through the SSCN and identified the expansion of the network across Africa as a key strategic objective.  Today the SSCN has 118 members from 13 countries in Africa and has the ambition of expanding its reach across the continent through the establishment of an additional four hubs attracting members from all countries on the continent.