From Little Seeds Grow Mighty Trees: Towards A Theoretical Framework For The Major Sports Events’ Social Sustainability, Centering Children’s Well-Being And Experiences

The legacy evaluation of major sports events has traditionally focused on their economic, tourism and infrastructural impacts, often overlooking their potential contributions to child well-being. This study addresses this gap by exploring how live event attendance influences children's physical and emotional well-being. The Children's Event Well-Being Model (CEWM) is introduced as a theoretical framework derived from qualitative observations. It draws on the Theory of Inspiration, the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model to explain how inspiration manifests in children attending sporting events. The CEWM suggests that event-related stimuli generate cognitive, affective and social responses, which together inspire child spectators. Inspirational states, in turn, interact with individuals and contextual factors. These processes underpin three dimensions of well-being: hedonic, evaluative and eudaimonic. By centering children's perspectives, this research conceptualises major events as catalysts for youth physical and psychosocial development, offering a pathway to advance social sustainability (SDG 3.4).