In this paper, I reflect upon and discuss findings from an empirical study that employed a postcolonial feminist approach to a multi-sited global ethnography of a sport for development and peace (SDP) initiative. Building on postcolonial feminist perspectives pertaining the importance of creating cross-border feminist solidarities anchored in struggles in the specificities of ‘the local’, in combination with recent work on research on transnational global activist research that explores issues of NGOization, I investigate two key methodological challenges and tensions that emerged in my research, including: (1) the politics and perils of translation in cross-cultural research, and (2) the technologies of aid evaluation and ethics of representation. I conclude by critically considering struggles of power, knowledge and social relations in local and transnational SDP, and discuss possibilities for mutual accountability and ethical responsibility in future SDP research, policy and practice.