Sports Doing Good Newsletter, #295

Aug. 26 – Sept. 8, 2018

Welcome to issue two hundred and ninety-five of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

  1. Tributes pour in from sports world in wake of Sen. John McCain’s death
  2. Hitting the books: The boxing gym saving Detroit’s youth
  3. Former Arsenal ace hosts free camp for Islington youngsters
  4. Soldiers to Sidelines Gives Antwan Sorrells Opportunity to Shadow Football Coaching Staff
  5. Surfer, New Mom, And Philanthropist Alana Blanchard Wants To Help Young Female Surfers Realize Their Dreams
  6. The Men Who Have Taken Wiffle Ball to a Crazy, Competitive Place
  7. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: what sports have taught me about race in America
  8. W.N.B.A. Frenemies Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi Save the Trash Talk for Bowling
  9. Inside the MLS’s strategy to become the ‘sport of the new North America’
  10. Runs in the Family

10+
This is Personal (by Stephen Curry) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/stephen-curry-womens-equality
How to Spot Your Next Team Captain (TrueSport)
https://learn.truesport.org/spot-next-team-captain/
NEVER SURRENDER: Olympic great’s message on the power of perseverance (NAYS)
https://www.nays.org/sklive/features/never-surrender-olympic-great-s-message-on-the-power-of-perseverance/
Annual survey results: Sport and the sustainable development goals (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/annual-survey-results-sport-and-sustainable-development-goals 10th Anniversary Spotlight: Our Inspirational Ambassadors Share (Beyond Sport)
http://beyondsport.org/articles/10th-anniversary-spotlight-beyond-sport-ambassadors-share/

We present again our “Featured Video” offering(s). With the explosion of video content out there highlighting the good in sport, we want to showcase such content for your enjoyment and learning. This will be an ongoing effort.

Charles’ biggest impact comes off the football field
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=24512

Introduction
In sports, we love challenges. Or at least we should. We need to test our capabilities, our determination, our progress against others, whether they be other athletes, teams, leagues, organizations, or corporations. Or better yet, even just ourselves. Are we doing our best? If not, there is room for improvement.

We read a book this week that challenges us to be better. And while it is not a sports- focused book, it is a piece of work super-relevant for that world. (we have occasionally highlighted media in Sports Doing Good that have had a special impact on us and our readers) The Person You Mean To Be by Dr. Dolly Chugh, professor of organization and management at NYU’s Stern School of Business, is a challenge, frankly, to all of us to gauge how we deal with each other in various situations. Are we unknowingly holding back others due to some heretofore unknown biases? If so, we need to fix that and the book helps us do just that. Here is a quote from the one and only Billie Jean King about the book. “Dolly Chugh helps us identify our ‘platform of privilege’ and guides us on how we can use this and other tools to create positive change. She encourages us to accentuate our strengths and to manage our weaknesses, and forces us to focus on being better and stronger in everything we do.”

We encourage you to get this book and begin the process of “elevating your game.”
https://www.amazon.com/Person-You-Mean-Be-People/dp/0062692143

The articles we are excited to feature this week include: testimonials on the greatness of the recently deceased Senator John McCain by those in the world of sports; a boxing gym developing minds and bodies of Detroit’s youth; former Arsenal star Gio Van Bronckhorst and his camp for youngsters in London; a new program giving veterans an opportunity to beef up their coaching credentials; legendary surfer Alana Blanchard and her work to support young female surfers; a very interesting take on the old-time game of wiffle ball; a first person account of race issues by basketball HOFer and author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; the special bond between WNBA superstars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi; how MLS soccer continues to find a prominent place in the American sports landscape; and a tale of search and discovery for NFL coach Deland McCullough.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and our best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood. And we are now also on Instagram. Find us at sportsdoinggood.

Finally, if you think others would like to receive the newsletter, please feel free to forward it on or have them contact us directly at sab@sportsdoinggood.com. (If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore you can use the Unsubscribe button at the end of the email)

So, enjoy. And have a good week.

Tributes pour in from sports world in wake of Sen. John McCain’s death
http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/24477754/respect-pours-sports-world-wake-john-mccain-death

Hitting the books: The boxing gym saving Detroit’s youth
http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/24021008/downtown-boxing-gym-detroit-place-where-books-come-boxing

One of the other missions of the gym is to keep kids away from the streets and to help them make smart decisions. Inside the gym, the ring is one place where they often congregate. Rachel Woolf for ESPN

Former Arsenal ace hosts free camp for Islington youngsters
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal/former-arsenal-ace-hosts-free-camp-for-islington-youngsters-1-5144686

Former Arsenal star Gio Van Bronckhorst with youngsters at a previous camp (pic Arie Kievit)

Soldiers to Sidelines Gives Antwan Sorrells Opportunity to Shadow Football Coaching Staff
https://guhoyas.com/news/2018/8/25/soldiers-to-sidelines-gives-antwan-sorrells-opportunity-to-shadow-football-coaching-staff.aspx

Surfer, New Mom, And Philanthropist Alana Blanchard Wants To Help Young Female Surfers Realize Their Dreams
https://sports.good.is/articles/alana-blanchard-new-mom-surfer-philanthropist

The Men Who Have Taken Wiffle Ball to a Crazy, Competitive Place
https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/the-men-who-have-taken-wiffle-ball-to-a-crazy-competitive-place

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: what sports have taught me about race in America
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/aug/28/notes-from-an-ungrateful-athlete-why-race-and-sports-matter-in-america

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (front right) attends the Cleveland Summit alongside other prominent black athletes, such as Muhammad Ali, in 1967. Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

W.N.B.A. Frenemies Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi Save the Trash Talk for Bowling
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/sports/sue-bird-diana-taurasi-wnba.html

Sue Bird, left, and Diana Taurasi have been friends since their days playing together at the University of Connecticut. Credit Matt York/Associated Press

Inside the MLS’s strategy to become the ‘sport of the new North America’
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/09/05/inside-the-mlss-strategy-become-the-sport-the-new-north-america

Runs in the Family
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/24505521/the-jaw-dropping-story-nfl-coach-search-family

Adelle Comer raised her sons as a single mother, teaching them the value of education and faith. Ruddy Roye for ESPN

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Our goal is to have Sports Doing Good be a portal housing original content and excerpts from and links to the increasing number of articles, websites, video, and other media that showcase the good in sports and society. We aim to celebrate those concepts, activities, events, and individuals by highlighting them for a wider audience. Much of the news today, whether sports- related or not, is incredibly negative and increasingly polarizing, biased, and quite annoying. We are trying to refocus some of the discussion on the good, with a focus on sports.

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Contact Information

Sarbjit “Sab” Singh
sab@sportsdoinggood.com
516-287-7141