June 25 – July 1

Welcome to week fourteen of the Sports Doing Good newsletter.

A couple of administrative matters to start with. In addition to our Sports Doing Good heading, we are now including some photos/images in each newsletter. Please make sure to allow images from Sports Doing Good to be seen by your email system. (you should see a button or link allowing you to view the images).  Also, in addition to email stories, please feel free to send stories via Twitter. Our address is @sportsdoinggood.

Every week we look for stories irrespective of the age of the subject of the story. Everyone, young and old, are worthy of being featured for their great efforts. This week we did have a larger number of stories dealing with youth, including: MLB’s Adam Jones working to end childhood hunger; Drew Brees and an awareness campaign of concussions in youth sports; the National Veterans Wheelchair Games Annual ‘Kids Day’; MLS W.O.R.K.S. Active Bodies Active Minds Program; Procter & Gamble’s Orgullosa Program to fuel Sports Dreams of Youth; UT Partners with U.S. State Department to Empower Women, Girls through Sports; Let’s Play and playground development; Soccer 4 Hope and Hoops 4 Hope’s empowering efforts in South Africa; Don Larsen commitment to paying for his grandkids’ education; and the Saracens rugby club’s broad commitment to community development. These and the other included stories taken together made for a very good week.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and our best source of stories. Our email address is sab@sportsddoinggood.com and our Twitter handle is @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 newsletter.)

So enjoy. And have a good week.

Fun Doing Good:

Carmelo Anthony Comes to Life at Wax Museum (video)
Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks celebrates the unveiling of his wax statue at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum by surprising unsuspecting visitors. http://youtu.be/cEyxt3jeejs

Moneyball 2.0: How Missile Tracking Cameras Are Remaking the NBA
The technology was originally developed to track missiles. Now, SportVU systems hang from the catwalks of 10 NBA arenas, tiny webcams that silently track each player as they shoot, pass, and run across the court, recording each and every move 25 times a second. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670059/moneyball-20-how-missile-tracking-cameras-are-remaking-the-nba

Athletes Doing Good

Poland’s Homeless Gear up for Own World Cup (video)
Football fever has arrived in Poland which is co-hosting the Euro 2012 football championships with Ukraine. But for some here it is more than just a game, it’s a life line. A team of homeless Poles is using the sport to get their lives back on track. http://www.freep.com/VideoNetwork/1690560700001/Poland-s-Homeless-Gear-up-for-Own-World-Cup

Adam Jones joins Baltimore Mayor’s Office to End Childhood Hunger
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones were joined by Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign and the Family League of Baltimore City to help raise awareness about free summer meals through the Baltimore City Super Summer campaign, and to kick off the Baltimore Partnership to End Childhood Hunger.  http://www.examiner.com/article/adam-jones-joins-baltimore-mayor-s-office-to-end-childhood-hunger

R.A. Dickey climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the Mets’ knuckleballer again beats fear with staunch belief
A career with no hope had found traction thanks to a pitch every bit as magical as that leopard, the knuckleball. Dickey survived more than a decade in the major leagues without an ulnar collateral ligament, the collagenous band that holds together the elbow, and he found success with a pitch considered gimmicky until hitters started swinging, missing and marveling. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/r-a–dickey-climbed-mount-kilimanjaro–the-mets–knuckleballer-again-beating-fear-with-stanch-belief.html

The Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation, ImPACT and Pro Football Star Drew Brees Team Up to Bench Concussions in Youth Sports
Concussions continue to affect all levels of athletics in the U.S., with an estimated 3.8 million recreation and sports-related concussions occurring in professional, collegiate and youth sports each year.(1) According to the American College of Sports Medicine, approximately 85% of those concussions go undiagnosed.(2) The Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation today announced that it has partnered with world champion All-Pro quarterback Drew Brees and ImPACT for PACE, the groundbreaking concussion awareness and education program.  http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docTag=201206250900PR_NEWS_USPRX____NY29740&feedID=600&press_symbol=90523

Events Doing Good:

National Veterans Wheelchair Games Annual ‘Kids Day’ Event Introduces Adaptive Sports to Local Children with Disabilities
Each year during the National Veterans Wheelchair Games (Wheelchair Games), a special day is set aside to introduce children with disabilities to the world of adaptive sports. This year’s Kids Day will offer children with physical disabilities from the local Richmond area an opportunity to interact with athletes who are competing in the 32nd Wheelchair Games. http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/prnewswire/press_releases/Virginia/2012/06/27/DC31300

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association and Gatorade Declare July 11 “National Recovery Day”
The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) and The Gatorade Company have teamed up to declare July 11, 2012, a day when U.S. sports takes a break from competition, the first annual National Recovery Day. With high school athletes suffering two million injuries each year1, National Recovery Day has been established to focus the attention of athletes on the importance of proper athletic recovery in order to continuously perform at their best. http://www.nata.org/sites/default/files/NRDayPress-Release.pdf

Leagues Doing Good

MLS W.O.R.K.S. Active Bodies Active Minds Program
The MLS W.O.R.K.S. Active Bodies Active Minds program is a soccer-centered community outreach initiative that provides resources to motivate and reward children for being mentally and physically fit. Join the Active Bodies Active Minds Club and enter for a chance to win a trip to the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game on July 25 at PPL Park, home of the Philadelphia Union.  Winner will also receive the Kinect™ for Xbox 360® Prize Pack, which includes a 4GB Xbox 360 console, Kinect Sensor, and Kinect Adventures Game.  http://www.mlssoccer.com/mlsworks/active-bodies-active-minds/parents

Media Doing Good:

A CAPITOL FOURTH on PBS Goes for the Gold With An Inspiring Olympic Tribute to Team USA!
America’s Biggest Birthday Party Celebrates our Athletes with a Patriotic Send Off to the London  2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Hosted by Apolo Anton Ohno and Featuring Legendary Composer and Conductor John Williams as well as members of Team USA!  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-capitol-fourth-on-pbs-goes-for-the-gold-with-an-inspiring-olympic-tribute-to-team-usa-160244245.html

Organizations Doing Good:

Puma to kick leather into touch
Puma will have to stop using leather in its famous football boots and trainers because it is such an environmentally damaging product, the sportswear company’s executive chairman has said.  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/579f4512-bc62-11e1-a836-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1yoVa7WVX

Procter & Gamble Orgullosa Program to fuel Sports Dreams of Youth
The fund, created to provide broader access to youth sports and support moms who want their children to achieve their personal best, is part of the company’s “Thank you, Mom” global initiative for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Through its participation in this campaign, Orgullosa recognizes the dedication and effort of moms everywhere, like Nelly, who are the driving force behind the Olympic dream, and who embody what it is to be a “mujer con la falda bien puesta™.”  http://www.hispanicad.com/cgi-bin/news/newsarticle.cgi?article_id=34631

Chess is a tool for development at prisons in Brazil
The initiative brings chess, a game of concentration and intelligence into the prison. The programme serves 2200 prisoners from 22 prisons in the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?4608%2F1%2FChess-is-a-tool-for-development-at-prisons-in-Brazil

UT Partners with U.S. State Department to Empower Women, Girls through Sports
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is partnering with the US Department of State to engage women and girls from around the world through sports. UT’s Center for Sport, Peace, and Society has been awarded a $1.2 million cooperative agreement to implement the Empowering Women and Girls through Sports Initiative. The center is part of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.  http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/2012/06/26/ut-state-department-empower-women-girls-sports/

Let’s Play Helps Fleet Peeples Park to get new restroom, playground
The playground will come as the result of a “Let’s Play Construction Grant.” Winter Park won the one-year grant from the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. The playground is in the beginning of the planning and design stages and is expected to be complete within the 12-month schedule for the grant, the city said. It will be a Kaboom playground, constructed by volunteers all in one day. Winter Park already has two other playgrounds it gained with the assistance of Kaboom, a nonprofit dedicated to creating playspaces in communities throughout the U.S. http://www.letsplay.com/_Fleet-Peeples-Park-to-get-new-restroom-playground/blog/6199591/185554.html

Additional Story
Hoops 4 Hope and its sister organisation, Soccer 4 Hope is using basketball and soccer to empower today’s youth in the Western Cape. (video)  http://www.news24.com/Multimedia/South-Africa/Using-sports-to-bring-hope-20120626

People Doing Good:

Magic Johnson, Simply Healthcare partner with University of Miami for HIV care
In town for the NBA Finals, Earvin “Magic” Johnson visited the University of Miami   Miller School of Medicine on Monday to announce that Simply Healthcare Plans, a Medicaid plan the NBA hall of famer invested in, will partner with UM for HIV/AIDS care. http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2012/06/18/magic-johnson-simply-healthcare.html?ana=e_vert

A Discussion with Eli A. Wolff about Olympic Values
This conversation took place on June 21, between Michael Bodakowski, Claudia Zambra, and Eli Wolff. The context was an ongoing exploration of Olympic Values for the 21st century. Eli reflected on his role working at the intersection of sport, academia, and policy, and the important overlaps among the three. http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/interviews/a-discussion-with-eli-a-wolff

Karl Malone is still working harder than you, and is called ‘Disneyland Dad’ now
Karl Malone is known for many things. Acting as perhaps the greatest power forward of all time. Archery. Indirectly helping to introduce the phrase “chicken baby” into my vocabulary. Failing to win an NBA championship. Achieving in winning in just about every other aspect in life. Siring and eventually coming to become a good father to a WNBA champion. And, most of all, working. Apparently, the man’s still working. So much harder than you. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/karl-malone-still-working-harder-called-disneyland-dad-190628779–nba.html

Don Larsen to auction off ’56 perfect-game uniform to pay for kids’ education
Being the kind of grandfather that he is, former New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen is taking one for the team. Larsen announced Thursday that he’s paying for his grandchildren’s college education by auctioning off his most prized possession — the uniform he wore when he pitched the only perfect game in World Series history. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/don-larsen-auction-off-56-perfect-game-uniform-215538161–spt.html

Current Trends in Sport for Development and Peace: A Young Professional’s Perspective
Over the past decade more than 1,000 organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, have recognized and embraced the field of sport as an effective, low-cost means to promote development and peace objectives. Operating in more than 120 countries, these organizations depend on a diverse range of stakeholders whose daily work draws on the power of sport or play to empower both individuals and communities. http://www.globalconversation.org/2012/06/25/current-trends-sport-development-and-peace-young-professionals-perspective

Teams Doing Good

Yankees undertake new HOPE Week
The Yankees will begin its HOPE Week 2012 series of community programs. The Yankees’ six U.S.-based minor league affiliates will be participating in the initiative for the first time this year. www.Hopeweek.com

Diamondbacks’ Racing Gracie mascot is a lovable loser
For the past couple of seasons, four illustrious Diamondbacks of the past – actually, their outsize-noggined mascot counterparts – have raced from the visitors’ bullpen to the D-backs’ dugout at every home game. Well, “race” is a stretch. “Wobbly jog” is a better fit.  http://www.azcentral.com/news/azliving/articles/20120605diamondbacks-racing-gracie-yet-win-legends-race.html#ixzz1z5rK7Jxg

Saracens was named Aviva Club of the Year in the (UK) All Parliamentary Premiership Rugby Community Awards.
The North London club and 2011 Aviva Premiership Rugby Champions were presented with the prestigious award for demonstrating overall excellence in their community work. The Saracens community team runs 27 community projects and is known for its outstanding community work in reaching more than 70,000 young people every year. It is the fourth time that the club has won the award.  http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/185835/rugby-clubs-honoured-for-community-programmes

English Premier League outfit Sunderland has announced that the Invest in Africa initiative will become its principal partner and shirt sponsor from the 2012-13 season onwards.
The partnership marks an extension of the ties between Sunderland and Invest in Africa. The two parties commenced an initial partnership in January in a bid to promote Africa as a leading investment destination and challenge misconceptions about investing on the continent. The Invest in Africa brand will now be promoted to the Premier League’s huge global audience, with Sunderland adding that the partnership will offer companies across the North East of England and beyond the opportunity to explore opportunities to do business in Africa. http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/185800/sunderland-builds-on-innovative-invest-in-africa-partnership

Jobs Doing Good:

Up2Us: Marketing Director
Up2Us is looking for a leader who is capable of managing many aspects of the organization’s Marketing, PR, and Communications needs. This leader will be expected to work closely with a strong management team and to effectively call upon and motivate other staff and consultants where necessary.  For full posting and how to apply, please visit http://www.up2us.org/uploads/sbyd%20job%20docs/Up2Us%20Marketing%20Director.pdf