Sports Doing Good Newsletter, #59

May 12-May 18, 2013

Welcome to week fifty-nine of the Sports Doing Good newsletter.

We regularly feature stories dealing with those who have committed much of their life to participating, watching, and/or working in sports. Makes sense as this is Sports Doing Good. However, we do include stories in which the main subject is just now being introduced to sport as a participant or as a fan. We certainly have such stories this week – rugby union in the U.S., physical activity in Haiti, soccer in Tibet, and used bikes around the world. Maybe our favorite has to do with half-marathon runner Nina Martinez.

Nina ran her first major race this past weekend. Turns out that she was not really into sports, at least not as a participant. But with the encouragement of Tyler Spencer of The Grassroot Project (which has been featured before at Sports Doing Good) she challenged herself to overcome the pains of running to accomplish this impressive feat. As Nina said, “I have friends that run, and hear their complaints, that it’s hard on the body, this, that and the other, and you know, part of it is well, “I’m an HIV patient,”” Martinez said. “I’ve had my fair share of physical discomfort. This can’t be that bad. It’s just challenging in a different way. In some respects being a patient prepared me to be a runner.” We applaud Nina and everyone else who is making a difference in their own way.

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So enjoy. And have a good week.

Alive & Kicking: Africa’s football factory scoring big
This is the Kenya-based hub of Alive & Kicking, the only formal manufacturer of sports balls in Africa. The social enterprise, which has two more plants in Zambia and Ghana, uses the widespread popularity of football in the continent to help create jobs and offer disadvantaged children access to sport equipment.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/business/alive-and-kicking-football-africa/

For runner infected with HIV as a baby, half-marathon is quite a challenge
The athletic career of Nina Martinez began just nine short weeks ago, when the 29-year-old made a decision to begin training for Sunday’s Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon in Fredericksburg. The closest she has ever been to an athlete was in her own imagination two decades ago, when as an eight-year-old girl in 1992, she made up stories to her elementary school classmates that she was related to Los Angeles Lakers icon Magic Johnson.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/othersports/for-runner-infected-with-hiv-as-a-baby-half-marathon-is-quite-a-challenge/2013/05/17/f8415882-bee8-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story_1.html

Sara Wendland/Courtesy photo – Nina Martinez, right, and twin sister Marie required blood transfusions weeks after being born in 1983. Nina, who will run the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon on Sunday, contracted HIV after her transfusion, and works today as an advocate on awareness and prevention.

Doin’ it in the Park – Documentary is an ode to NYC playground basketball
A new documentary, ”Doin’ it in the Park,” is a loving ode to the blacktop world of New York City pickup. With more than 700 courts, it’s the mecca of pick-up basketball, featuring places like Rucker Park in Harlem and the West 4th St. court, a kind of fish bowl of nonstop basketball on view for West Village commuters and tourists. Basketball is woven into the asphalt fabric of New York.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/documentary-ode-nyc-playground-basketball-140247329–nba.html

NFL knows US professional rugby union could be a very good deal indeed
It is not much of a stretch to imagine that it will be possible to persuade a few hundred from that talent pool to spend a summer learning a superficially-similar sport that offers the last chance of a professional contract. Especially if they know that the NFL is watching their progress.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/may/11/us-rugby-union-professional-league-nfl

Hayden Smith – who now plays in the NFL for the New York Jets – claims possession for the USA against Ireland at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Photograph: Paul Thomas/Action Images

Dallas Mavericks will hold court in West to help town’s recovery from tragic explosion
The team will host a two-week-plus basketball festival, tipping off on Thursday, that will include appearances by team personnel and focus on helping residents and emergency personnel resume some normalcy to their lives and culminate with a concert in Waco.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20130512-dallas-mavericks-will-hold-court-in-west-to-help-town-s-recovery-from-tragic-explosion.ece

BlazeSports delivers second mini festival to promote physical activity in Haiti
Students at one of Haiti’s leading centres for deaf education have participated in activities involving a range of sports, including boccia, volleyball, football and recreational games.
http://www.sportanddev.org/?5653/1/BlazeSports-delivers-second-mini-festival-to-promote-physical-activity-in-Haiti

The Beautiful Game: Stories of Soccer and Community Change
The Beautiful Game is an inspirational feature documentary about the power of soccer in modern Africa. Soccer, unlike anything else, builds community across a continent of 54 countries often at odds with each other.
http://www.mercycorps.org/events/beautiful-game-stories-soccer-and-community-change
Video – http://vimeo.com/27936983

AutoNation joins racing champ Hunter-Reay to raise at least $1 million to help fight cancer
AutoNation is teaming up with Fort Lauderdale’s Hunter-Reay in the effort for both professional and personal reasons. The respected race car champ lost his mother to colon cancer in 2009 and formed the nonprofit Racing for Cancer to help beat the disease. His group focuses on early detection and prevention, plus efforts to raise awareness and support the fight against childhood cancer.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-autonation-cancer-20130515,0,7364295.story

Football – Empowering women and preserving a culture
“When the first 27 girls walked onto the pitch in 2012, their bodies were hunched in insecurity… After our first camp, the girls laughed and shouted as they played, and weren’t afraid to call themselves footballers.” sportanddev speaks to Cassie Childers, founder of Tibet Women’s Soccer.
http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?5651%2F1%2FFootball-Empowering-women-and-preserving-a-culture

The Tibet women’s select team celebrates after a brilliant performance against India’s Haryana state team.

Patriots hold ‘Football For You’ clinic for children of Newtown
“I hope they leave here with a good experience,” Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “They’ve been through a lot these last couple months. It’s the rebuilding process. They’ll never be forgotten, but at the same time, these kids are very strong, their families are very strong, the parents out here in the stands are very strong. And hopefully we can come out here and provide a little temporary relief and some smiles.”
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/patriots-hold-football-clinic-children-newtown-144421063.html

THE NEXT 10 STORIES

Boca Juniors to launch football school in India; Maradona’s former club will become the first Latin club to do this
Boca Juniors plans to take the BJFSI around the country with the first school being launched in Bengaluru. BJFSI will run the football school on an ongoing basis round the year and provide progressive training to the students through weekly classes following Boca Juniors methodology. All these classes would be administered by coaches from the Argentine club.
http://gulfnews.com/sport/football/boca-juniors-to-launch-football-school-in-india-1.1183641

Beat The Streets Awards Gala, Tied To ‘The Rumble on the Rails,’ Raises Record Of $1.5 Million For New York City Area Youth Wrestling and Education Programs
A landmark day of wrestling and international cooperation was capped by an historic evening of celebration and philanthropy on Wednesday as USA Wrestling and Beat The Streets Wrestling, Inc., a youth development organization that believes wrestling is the superlative tool for nurturing boys and girls into capable young men and women, teamed to raise a record of $1.5 million for the organization.
http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=26474

Football Association to vote on five-game bans for racial abuse
The FA leadership has been under pressure to introduce tougher and clearer sanctions. In the past two years the Liverpool striker Luis Suárez and the Chelsea captain John Terry have been banned for racial abuse. Suárez was suspended for eight games, while Terry received half that punishment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/13/football-association-racial-abuse

David Bernstein, the FA chairman, believes the minimum five-match ban for racial abuse is a well thought-out proposal. Photograph: Sean Dempsey/PA

All Sports Community Services (ASCS) & Bucs Player Help Mother Celebrate
Tyrone Keys, founder of All Sports Community Services (ASCS) and former Super Bowl champion for the Chicago Bears, recently invited Ms. Perry to the ASCS Alumni Legacy Mentor Center at Blake High School. He wanted to share with her the legacy that Albert left and to show her son’s jersey hanging on the wall in honor of his life; and, to show her how much good can blossom from tragedy.
http://www.allsportscommunity.org/content/ascs-bucs-player-help-mother-celebrate

Can-Am League Welcomes Second French City As 32 More Independent Baseball Teams Start Season
The Can-Am League has had to settle for one Canadian team in recent years, and now there is a second; even better, another French-speaking city with the Trois-Rivieres Aigles restoring a professional team to the community no more than 90 minutes from Quebec for the first time since the Class AA Eastern League departed after the 1977 season except for one, brief time when the Canadian League tried to play in 2003.
http://seamheads.com/2013/05/17/can-am-league-welcomes-second-french-city-as-32-more-independent-baseball-teams-start-season/

Tennis Stars Bryan Brothers And Caroline Wozniacki Become EFactor VIPs promoting Entrepreneurship
“We’re committed to increasing the success factor of entrepreneurs and business owners all over the world,” expresses Adrie Reinders , EFactor CEO. “These Tennis stars have some very intriguing things in common with the average entrepreneur.” Both Caroline Wozniacki and the Bryan Brothers are stand-alone businesses. Caroline, and Bob & Mike are the respective CEO’s of their personal brands. The success they have achieved on the court has allowed them to create a sustainable business off the court.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tennis-stars-bryan-brothers-and-caroline-wozniacki-become-efactor-vips-promoting-entrepreneurship-207161851.html

NBA Renaissance Man: Earl Monroe Building A Business Empire Off The Hardwood
Earl’s current venture, Reverse Spin Entertainment, combines his love for music with that of film, and has already helped produce “Black Magic“, a Peabody Award winning basketball documentary. Reverse Spin is currently working on its next documentary, “We Can Kick It”, which focuses on the spread of soccer among African-Americans.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2013/05/07/nba-renaissance-man-earl-monroe-building-a-business-empire-off-the-hardwood/

Simona De Silvestro has the tools to fulfill Indy 500 promise
De Silvestro arrived at Indianapolis this month with a new team in KV Racing Technology, a teammate for the first time in 2004 IndyCar champion and 15-time race winner Tony Kanaan, and a new engine from Chevrolet. It is a prime opportunity, but she also faces the challenge of proving that she can be a contender in the 500.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/racing/news/20130517/indy-500-simona-de-silvestro/#ixzz2TmxzMP64

Used bikes change kids’ lives
When Daniel Furbish started a bike workshop at a community center in Nashville, he didn’t know that much about building or fixing bikes. He did, however, know what an important tool a bike can be for a kid with little or no other means of transportation. We met him to see how this little experiment turned into a full-time program that has helped hundreds.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/16/living/orig-ideas-bike-works/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11

Baltimore Orioles’ O’Day and Davis Team Up With Luke’s Wings
Luke’s Wings addresses the need for families to be with their wounded service members and works to fund travel for families to be near their loved ones.  Money raised by Luke’s Wings also assists families with costs associated with the service member’s hospitalization, recovery services, and the logistics of family visits.
http://www.bonfireimpact.com/2013/05/15/baltimore-orioles-oday-and-davis-team-up-with-lukes-wings/

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