Oct. 13 – Oct. 19, 2013
Welcome to week eighty-one of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s first 10 stories include:
- Feisty club of 6-year-old girls invades skate scene; They’ve been dubbed the ‘Pink Helmet Posse,’ and they’ve got the boys of the skate world trembling
- EPL’s Manchester United renews Unicef partnership
- NFL Fines Brandon Marshall $10,500 for Green Mental Health Awareness Shoes
- Making a Difference in the Community: Magic Builds 25 Reading Corners in One Day
- Wheelchair Racer Could Be First to Win 3 Major Marathons in a Season
- Women’s bouts on current season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ are blowing away men’s fights in the TV ratings
- The biggest Patriots fan; Robert Kraft is helping his teenage friend Sam Berns find a cure for progeria
- ‘Peace Girl’ rises from hardship; A soccer player’s journey from the horrors of war to a peaceful life.
- Male Runner Beats Breast Cancer Twice
- Man Bets $80 That His Baby Grandson Would One Day Play For Wales’ National Team, 15 Years Later Collects $200,000
Introduction
Another great week at Sports Doing Good. We are thrilled to each week to be able to showcase individuals, teams, companies, non-profits, etc. doing things that inspire, amaze, and motivate. We definitely have all of that this week. (We also have, for the first time, a story involving a royal family and their love of basketball!)
Much of the fun in putting together the newsletter comes from seeing the variety of these entities involved in doing good. Young and old, boys and girls, black and white, professionals and amateurs. They are all contributors to this ongoing effort to “change the conversation,” from the disappointing and sad to those things which elevate our spirit.
After 80 weeks, we thought we had seen most of what could take place. We were wrong! This week we get to highlight the ‘Pink Helmet Posse,’ ‘Peace Girl’ Memuna Mansaray, and former number 1 women’s golfer, Lorena Ochoa, amongst others. In reading these stories, we have feeling you will smile, cheer, and applaud, just as we did.
In addition to those three stories, we have the opportunity to feature: Manchester United, NFL player Brandon Marshall, NBA team Orlando Magic, Paralympic champion Tatyana McFadden, friends Robert Kraft and Sam Berns, sports non-profit SquashSmarts, Army football player Terry Baggett; extreme sports competitor Sally Francklyn, and granddad Peter Edwards; amongst others.
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.
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@sportsddoinggood.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.
Feisty club of 6-year-old girls invades skate scene; They’ve been dubbed the ‘Pink Helmet Posse,’ and they’ve got the boys of the skate world trembling
Murphy concurs. “Watching your 6-year-old daughter hit tile in a 13-foot bowl, that is pretty cool. But watching her confidence grow—not just with skating, but in life—that’s even better. If that’s all she ever gets out of skating then we’ve succeeded.”
http://www.grindtv.com/lifestyle/pro-active/post/skaters-step-aside-when-pink-helmet-posse-rolls-in/
Clearing a path in Southern California’s renowned skateparks can be tough, but fortunately Sierra Kerr, Relz Murphy, and Bella Kenworthy, a.k.a. the Pink Helmet Posse, know how to intimidate the boys.
EPL’s Manchester United renews Unicef partnership
The three-year extension will confirm the continuation of the longest running partnership between a sporting organisation and a global charity. The United for Unicef 13-year partnership has helped raise £3m for the charity. Of the new £1m commitment from United, £500,000 will fund Unicef’s work to protect children in Vietnam.
http://www.sportbusiness.com/sponsorship-insider/united-renews-unicef-partnership
NFL Fines Brandon Marshall $10,500 for Green Mental Health Awareness Shoes
Marshall, who was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2011, wore the shoes anyway. And the NFL followed up on its threat, fining Marshall $10,500 for violating the league’s uniform rules. Marshall tweeted the NFL letter announcing the fine Wednesday along with a message: “Football is my platform not my purpose. This fine is nothing compared to the conversation started & awareness raised.”
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2013/10/17/2795711/nfl-fines-brandon-marshall-10500-green-mental-health-awareness-shoes/
Credit. AP
Making a Difference in the Community: Magic Builds 25 Reading Corners in One Day
In keeping with the celebration of their 25th anniversary season, the Magic and Florida Blue opened 25 reading corners throughout Central Florida. Items donated were children’s furniture, a bookcase, Magic décor and several boxes of books given by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
http://www.nba.com/magic/news/making-difference-community-magic-builds-25-reading-corners-one-day
Wheelchair Racer Could Be First to Win 3 Major Marathons in a Season
McFadden grew up in an orphanage in St. Petersburg, where she was never given a wheelchair. She spent her first six years walking on her hands before Deborah McFadden, then the director of the International Children’s Alliance, adopted her during an overseas trip. After taking to sports in her childhood, Tatyana McFadden fought through the courts in high school in Maryland to compete against able-bodied runners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/sports/wheelchair-racer-could-be-first-to-win-3-major-marathons-in-a-season.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=SP_WRC_20131011&_r=0
Tatyana McFadden working out at the education rehab center at the University of Illinois.
Joel Kowsky for The New York Times
Women’s bouts on current season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ are blowing away men’s fights in the TV ratings
The three women’s fights are averaging 791,000 viewers, a 20 percent spike over the 640,000 viewers the two men’s fights averaged. White, who for a long time was a vocal opponent of women’s fighting, said it continues a trend that champion Ronda Rousey started when she headlined UFC 157 in February against Liz Carmouche. That bout garnered extraordinary mainstream media attention, enough so that White felt compelled to thank the media at the post-fight news conference.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/women-bouts-current-season-ultimate-fighter-blowing-away-193359310–mma.html
The cast of the current season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ with coaches Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate (Getty)
The biggest Patriots fan; Robert Kraft is helping his teenage friend Sam Berns find a cure for progeria
His birth certificate says 16. His face says 80. His body size says 6. His mind says 35. His medical diagnosis says, “Failure to thrive,” but that’s a lie. Few people you’ll ever meet thrive like Sam Berns. Ask Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9834297/rick-reilly-special-patriots-fan
Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, greets his friend Sam Berns, a Patriots fan with progeria, a disease that accelerates the aging process. Thos Robinson/Getty Images via HBO
‘Peace Girl’ rises from hardship; A soccer player’s journey from the horrors of war to a peaceful life.
Memuna concluded: “My message to you is that bad things will happen in your lifetime. But remember that something good always comes out of something bad. You may not believe me when it’s happening to you … but trust me on this one.”
http://espn.go.com/espn/e60/story/_/id/9825369/peace-girl-rises-hardship
Madeleine Albright, then U.S. Secretary of State, and Sierra Leon Foreign Minister Sama Banya, hug 3-year-old amputee Memuna Mansaray during a visit to a camp for war-wounded in Freetown. AP Photo/Brennan Linsley
Male Runner Beats Breast Cancer Twice
“I see him as an inspiration not only to other cancer patients, but to everybody,” said Lane, who is chief of the oncology department at the Radiation Therapy Center at Signature Healthcare in Brockton. “He’s been through this twice and maintained upbeat and keeping up on things. He is invested in long-distance running and through the course of treatment kept it up.”
http://gma.yahoo.com/male-runner-beats-breasts-cancer-twice-then-beats-102017872–abc-news-health.html
Male Runner Beats Breast Cancer Twice, Then Out Races His Doctor (ABC News)
Man Bets $80 That His Baby Grandson Would One Day Play For Wales’ National Team, 15 Years Later Collects $200,000
Back in 1998, Peter Edwards placed a £50 bet with a bookmaker that his grandson, then 1 1/2 years old, would one day play for the Welsh National Soccer Team. Even though he got some tasty 2,500/1 odds, that’s still pretty much grounds to have the guy committed to the happy asylum. Except … the grandson, now 16 years old, did just that.
http://www.sportsgrid.com/soccer/british-man-bets-50-pounds-that-his-baby-grandson-will-one-day-play-for-wales-national-team-15-years-later-collects-125000/
THE NEXT 10 STORIES
Joint interview with running champions Paula Radcliffe and Wilson Kipketer
What does it mean to you both to run for a cause?
Paula: I think it’s vital to always run with a goal and a purpose in mind. Giving something back to an organization that brings about real change is a huge driving factor for me.
Wilson: Running for a good cause means a great deal to me; for example very year in Denmark I run for an organization that fights Parkinson’s disease. I get a lot out of helping others and if I can achieve that goal through sport, then so much the better.
http://www.peace-sport.org/images/stories/newsletter/newsletter27_en.html#spotlight
SquashSmarts Named STRIVE (Sports Teach Respect, Initiative, Values and Excellence) Organization of the Year
SquashSmarts is a free academic and athletic mentoring program that keeps Philadelphia public school students in school, in shape and on track for graduation. The program utilizes the sport of squash to foster academic excellence, healthier lifestyles, leadership and achievement among students in grades 5 through 12.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/16/fl-ncys-idUSnBw166339a+100+BSW20131016
NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder To Rebuild Courts Torn Up By Tornado
In just another example of the Thunder’s stellar relationship with the local community, the team announced that it will be rebuilding three basketball courts that were ravaged by the May 20 tornado that tore through parts of Oklahoma.
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/good-sports/201310/thunder-rebuild-oklahoma-basketball-courts-destroyed-may-tornado
The Sally Francklyn Story
Sally Francklyn is a writer, skier, and much-loved personality in the freeskiing industry. The past year and a half of her life have been beyond difficult, but with a lot of hard work, help from others and an indomitable spirit, she is working to overcome a traumatic brain injury. This is her story, in her words.
http://xgames.espn.go.com/skiing/article/9802536/skier-sally-francklyn-recovering-traumatic-brain-injury
Sally Francklyn skiing in Jackson Hole, Wyo., before her 2012 traumatic brain injury.
In Bhutan, a Bid to Turn Basketball From a Royal Sport to a National One
Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck’s final basket was just one of 17 she made in a friendly game of basketball last month with nine other women. Basketball may be a street game in the United States, but it is the game of kings and queens in Bhutan.
Students at the Pelkhil School in Thimphu, Bhutan. Few in this nation of 742,000 are taller than 6 feet. Kuni Takahashi for The New York Times
Former No. 1 golfer Lorena Ochoa does it all
Her image as a role model is something that Ochoa is particularly proud of, and she hopes that her presence in a sport with relatively few Latin American athletes can inspire others… Ochoa also created a series of grants to support the development of golf in Mexico. She is the founder of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, which takes places each November and is another important source of revenue for the foundation.
http://espn.go.com/espnw/w-in-action/article/9806544/espnw-lorena-ochoa-voted-fifth-most-influential-hispanic-female-athlete-all-time-retired-lpga-top-game-continues-stay-busy-family-charity
Lorena Ochoa said goodbye to the LPGA Tour as the No. 1 player in the world but says golf will always be a part of her life. AP Photo/Guillermo Arias
Losing Is Good for You
It turns out that, once kids have some proficiency in a task, the excitement and uncertainty of real competition may become the activity’s very appeal. If children know they will automatically get an award, what is the impetus for improvement? Why bother learning problem-solving skills, when there are never obstacles to begin with?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/opinion/losing-is-good-for-you.html?emc=eta1
Jennifer Heuer, Photographs courtesy of CSA Images/Getty Images
NHL, NHLPA join for Hockey Fights Cancer initiative; Donations by NHL and NHLPA’s joint effort poised to reach $13 Million by Oct. 31
During the 31-day Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness month campaign, the NHL and NHLPA will distribute more than $200,000 in grants to national and local cancer organizations in all 30 NHL markets. The joint charitable initiative has raised approximately $13 million since its inception in 1998.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=686160
Army’s Terry Baggett sets school rushing record with 304-yard performance
In the history of Army football, which dates back to 1890, there had never been a Black Knight who ran for more than 300 yards in a single game. That all changed today… Baggett, who returned to action this year after a devastating knee injury ended his 2012 campaign, broke Michael Wallace’s Army single-game milestone of 269 rushing yards set in 1999 against Louisville.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/army-terry-baggett-sets-school-rushing-record-304-203442167–ncaaf.html
(AP Photo, Mike Groll)
Peanut-free football game Saturday at Northwestern
Northwestern University is hosting its first peanut-free football game to give fans with allergies a chance to focus on the game instead of worrying about negative reactions to the popular stadium snack, which can range from mild irritation to life-threatening anaphylactic shock.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-15/news/chi-nu-game-to-be-peanutfree-this-saturday-20131014_1_cubs-game-allergies-life-threatening-peanut-allergy
The Northwestern University band, performs with other local bands, during halftime of the Northwestern Wildcats’ game against the Syracuse Orange, at Ryan Field, in Evanston, Ill., on Saturday Sept., 7, 2013. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)
|
Recent Comments