July 5 – July 18, 2020
Welcome to issue three hundred and forty-two of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. ‘Definition of a leader’: How Thunder guard Chris Paul has guided Players Association through turbulent times (The Oklahoman)
2. Meet Alex Kline, Knicks’ 26-year-old scout with makings of front-office star (New York Post)
3. #Sport4Recovery aims to unite stakeholders and push for sport’s safe return (SportBusiness)
4. Women’s Roller Derby Has a Plan for Covid, and It Kicks Ass (Wired)
5. Maybe Colleges Should Be Adding Sports, Not Dropping Them (Sportico)
6. An Unlikely Source of Catharsis for a Black M.L.B. Player: Social Media (New York Times)
7. Simone Biles on Overcoming Abuse, the Postponed Olympics, and Training During a Pandemic (Vogue)
8. Dhane Smith, NLL’s first black MVP, went unacknowledged. Here’s why it matters (Buffalo News)
9. She Found Her Voice in a W.N.B.A. Locker Room, Then Used It in Sweden (New York Times)
10. Antonio Argüelles, the grandfather who swam from Northern Ireland to Scotland (The Guardian)


10+
Launch of first online global course on sport and the Sustainable Development Goals (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/launch-first-online-global-course-sport-and-sustainable-development-goals
Coaches: Six Reasons (And More!) To Discuss Anti-Racism With Your Team (Positive Coaching Alliance)
https://positivecoach.org/the-pca-blog/coaches-six-reasons-and-more-to-discuss-anti-racism-with-your-team/
A Refugee No Longer (by Mujahed Aqlan) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/homeless-world-cup-mujahed-aqlan
Three years of peace-through-sport activities in Zaatari refugee camp (Peace and Sport)
https://www.peace-sport.org/news/three-years-of-peace-through-sport-activities-in-zaatari-refugee-camp/
GWU Sports Philanthropy July Newsletter (GWU)
https://mailchi.mp/09e20916444b/gw-sports-philanthropy-newsletter-7979305


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.

Longboard Dancing With South Korea’s Skating Sensation (Great Big Story)
https://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/this-longboard-legend-does-more-than-shred


Introduction
Over the past 7+ years of doing the Sports Doing Good newsletter, I have rarely featured a non-sports figure in the Introduction or even amongst the stories. That shouldn’t be surprising as it is Sports Doing Good. I felt compelled, however, this week to acknowledge John Lewis, who passed away on Friday from cancer.

Many of you are familiar with Mr. Lewis, a champion for civil rights and a U.S. congressman from Georgia. I hesitated to use the word legend or icon, not because he was not those things. He was. But because when people hear those words it sometimes gives the impression that the person was not actually real, that we are speaking of a fictional character. However, Mr. Lewis was real and so was his impact, an impact that will surely continue after his passing.

I learned a lot more of Rep. Lewis over the past two years after the law school I attended, Emory University School of Law, endowed a professorship in his name. Rep. Lewis was someone who I never got tired of reading about. Reading about him was not an exercise in just learning about him, it was an exercise in learning about America, our history, the good and the bad. He was, as people are wont to say, “the real deal.” He was at historical events. More than that, he was a key figure in those events, e.g. the March on Washington in 1963. For 60 years, Mr. Lewis talked the talked and he famously, and literally, walked the walk.

Mr. Lewis and his fight for justice and rights for all Americans, have always been relevant. Why? Because the fight has never ended. We know that. The past few months are a stark reminder of that fight. Ironically, the word “fight” for Mr. Lewis was not about a physical battle. It was about a moral, ethical, and spiritual one. He was committed to a non-violent approach from day one. And that is another reason why he was so respected. He was consistent in his goals and his method.

While Mr. Lewis was not a sports figure, I think you can see how he does fit in with Sports Doing Good, especially the “doing good” part. I hope that those in sport, at all levels and in all roles, honor Mr. Lewis by continuing to strive to help this industry, this country, fulfill our magnificent potential.

If you need further inspiration to learn about Rep. Lewis, please watch the new documentary film about him entitled, “Good Trouble.” https://www.johnlewisgoodtrouble.com/

Of course, I am fortunate to once again to be able to share with you a collection of great stories in this week’s Sports Doing Good newsletter. I think you will see elements of Mr. Lewis’ life in almost all of them.

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.

‘Definition of a leader’: How Thunder guard Chris Paul has guided Players Association through turbulent times (The Oklahoman)
https://oklahoman.com/article/5666083/definition-of-a-leader-how-thunder-guard-chris-paul-has-guided-players-assocation-through-turbulent-times

Meet Alex Kline, Knicks’ 26-year-old scout with makings of front-office star (New York Post)
https://nypost.com/2020/07/05/knicks-26-year-old-scout-alex-kline-is-basketball-wunderkind/

#Sport4Recovery aims to unite stakeholders and push for sport’s safe return (SportBusiness)
https://www.sportbusiness.com/2020/07/infronts-sport4recovery-aims-to-unite-stakeholders-and-push-for-sports-safe-return/

Women’s Roller Derby Has a Plan for Covid, and It Kicks Ass (Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/womens-roller-derby-has-a-plan-for-covid-and-it-kicks-ass/

Maybe Colleges Should Be Adding Sports, Not Dropping Them (Sportico)
https://www.sportico.com/2020/leagues/college-sports/maybe-colleges-should-be-adding-sports-not-dropping-them-1234608297/

An Unlikely Source of Catharsis for a Black M.L.B. Player: Social Media (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/sports/baseball/tony-kemp-as-twitter.html

Simone Biles on Overcoming Abuse, the Postponed Olympics, and Training During a Pandemic (Vogue)
https://www.vogue.com/article/simone-biles-cover-august-2020

Dhane Smith, NLL’s first black MVP, went unacknowledged. Here’s why it matters (Buffalo News)
https://buffalonews.com/sports/dhane-smith-nlls-first-black-mvp-went-unacknowledged-heres-why-it-matters/article_38afdf48-b846-11ea-a40a-63c09396449f.html

She Found Her Voice in a W.N.B.A. Locker Room, Then Used It in Sweden (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/sports/basketball/amanda-zahui-b-new-york-liberty.html

Antonio Argüelles, the grandfather who swam from Northern Ireland to Scotland (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jul/16/antonio-arguelles-the-grandfather-who-swam-from-northern-ireland-to-scotland


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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.

Our mission is to have Sport Doing Good be a consistent, and significant, contributor to the areas of sports, social responsibility and development. We look forward to partnering with other stakeholders in producing content, in creating and/or sponsoring athletic and service events, knowledge sharing, and conferences/seminars, and even having a commercial arm that could be the source of innovative social businesses.

We invite you to send in news, press releases, and guest pieces for possible publication, and email us with suggestions about the content and format of the newsletter and Sports Doing Good website.

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