This research enquiry critically examines correspondences between participation in sport with the enhancement of social inclusion for young people classified as, or 'at-risk' of becoming, 'NEET' (Not in Education, Employment or Training). Whilst policy interventions to develop social inclusion within such populations often accentuate the accumulation of three forms of capital - namely human, social and positive psychological - existing literature highlights a paradoxical relationship in respect of sport being utilised in this educational manner. Consequently, some scholars suggest that participation in sport can contribute to enhanced social inclusion, whilst other contend that such participation merely produces conforming citizens who reinforce the values of the dominant neoliberal discourse. As a context to explore this paradox, the enquiry examines Sport for Change, a Comic Relief initiative, implemented within five boroughs in East London. As an emblematic exemplar of programmes designed to utilise sport in an instrumental manner to enhance social inclusion, this case presents clear potential for exploratory insights which may offer the basis for correspondences to emerge pertaining to programmes containing similar ambitions. Framed by a realist evaluative philosophy, the research consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with 22 individuals who were associated with this specific iteration of Sport for Change. The research engaged people at various junctures of the implementation chain, most pertinently ten young males who participated at two of the sports clubs who were recipients of the intervention. The findings of this enquiry gleaned insights into the disconnected 'life-world' of young males who reside on urban residential estates, highlighting how membership of a sports club enables acceptance by a recognisable and legitimate social institution to be obtained, to initiate the process of social inclusion, and forge the trusting inter-personal relationships upon which human, social, and positive psychological capital can be developed. Consequently, the research enquiry argues that rather than the act of sports participation itself, it is these relationships, formed with club personnel who possess a community consciousness, that are critical to the enhancement of social inclusion in young people.