Climate change poses significant threats to sport infrastructure and participation locally and globally. In response, FIFA launched its Climate Strategy 2023-2026 to promote environmental responsibility across football communities. Central to this is the “Leave No Trace” LNT framework, yet its promotion at grassroots level in developing nation’s lacks empirical attention. This study investigated how participatory communication approaches can promote LNT practices among youth sports communities in Lugbe, FCT Abuja. Guided by Participatory Communication Theory and Behavior Change Communication BCC model, the study addressed three objectives: assessing LNT awareness and practice, evaluating existing communication channels, and proposing a participatory framework for responsible sport. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used. Quantitative data were obtained from 250 youth athletes selected through multistage sampling, while qualitative insights were drawn from 4 focus group discussions with coaches and youth leaders. Data were analyzed using SPSS v26 and thematic analysis. Results indicated that only 23% of respondents could correctly identify 4 or more LNT principles, but 87% expressed willingness to participate in designing environmental campaigns. Participatory strategies, including youth-produced posters, community dialogues, and coach-athlete co-learning sessions, emerged as effective for behavior change. The study concludes that top-down environmental messaging is insufficient for grassroots sport. It recommends that sports administrators adopt participatory communication models to align local youth behavior with FIFA Climate Strategy objectives, thereby fostering sustainable sport communities in Nigeria.

Keywords: Participatory communication, Leave No Trace, Youth sports, Environmental sustainability, Behavior change communication.