Welcome to week three hundred and forty-five of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:
- The Olympian That Stood Up To A $170 Billion Global Brand, Forced Change, And Got Paid In The Process (HuddleUp)
- Daniel Cormier’s career was imperfect, but always inspirational (ESPN)
- The Olympic And Paralympic Museum In Colorado Springs Offers Inclusive Hope In A Time Of Darkness (YourTango)
- Top American athletes align behind More Than A Vote coalition (SportBusiness)
- How to Cycle Up ‘Mount Everest’ (New York Times)
- Doing Business In A State Of Gray: How Little League Is Adapting In Challenging Times… (JoeFavorito.com)
- The Surprising Role Sports Played in Women’s Suffrage (TeenVogue)
- Athletes Unlimited kicks off with an ‘innovative new model’ for professional softball (ESPN)
- Opinion: Athletes give voice to voiceless. ‘It takes monumental courage to stand up’ (USA Today)
- Kid’s book about the world’s oldest marathon runner is the first by a major publisher to center on a Sikh character (CNN)
10+(Sport and Dev special edition)Online course attracts students from 148 countries (Sport and Dev)https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/online-course-attracts-students-148-countries Commonwealth Moves: Adapting community sport to COVID-19 (Sport and Dev)https://www.sportanddev.org/en/news-and-views/article-series/covid-19/commonwealth-moves-adapting-community-sport-covid-19 When UEFA overcame the Cold War divide (Sport and Dev)https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/when-uefa-overcame-cold-war-divide UNODC and IOC enhance partnership to tackle crime in and through sport (Sport and Dev)https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/unodc-and-ioc-enhance-partnership-tackle-crime-and-through-sport Discovering adaptive sport with Pierre Van Klaveren (Special Olympics Monaco) (Sport and Dev)https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/discovering-adaptive-sport-pierre-van-klaveren-special-olympics-monaco
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. Rising Phoenix | Official Trailer (YouTube)https://youtu.be/CyjOEFEO3I8 Rising Phoenix tells the extraordinary story of the Paralympic Games. From the rubble of World War II to the third biggest sporting event on the planet, the Paralympics sparked a global movement which continues to change the way the world thinks about disability, diversity & human potential.
Introduction
I am not so proud to think the world is asking for or anxiously awaiting my thoughts on what is going on in the professional sports world. But as someone who has read literally thousands of stories related to “good,” I think I do have a special perspective and understanding of when things are good and not good. And like everyone else with an opinion, I think I will share it. Simply stated, I was inspired by the actions taken by professional athletes across the U.S. sports landscape this past week. I know that this is not a universal position, but I never expected it to be. Look, we are living in a time in which doing something as basic as wearing a mask to help reduce the spread of a pandemic has become contentious. (by the way, wear a mask.) This is an unprecedented time for all of us, certainly with respect to the pandemic, and for many of us, when it comes to being a part of a large-scale, concerted effort to address the lingering issues of a lack of civil liberties and human rights, especially for people of color. We should all be given some room when it comes to figuring out our individual responses to both. However, being given room does not equate to coming up with your own facts or mislabeling actions of others. That undermines the dialogue that needs to be had by individuals with different viewpoints. I thought the move to postpone games was important. It certainly got people’s attention and shifted focus back to the issues at the heart of these protests. I also liked the decision to come back to the field of play. The discussions will continue because people, including the athletes, will want it to. But the platform they have, as professional athletes, can only really be leveraged when they are actually being used, when the media and fans are focused on them day after day. Where does this leave us? It leaves us where we need to be, having discussions about how to address matters of societal concern. And who gets to have these discussions? Well, all of us really. I disagree with those who think athletes are unnecessarily privileged and therefore should just be grateful for what they have. We ALL should be grateful for what we have, professional athletes are not unique in that way. And the athletes are no different when we consider who can voice their opinion. I am anxious to see these conversations continue, to see these peaceful protests continue. I do hope that people will give each other the basic courtesy to hear each other out, to not lie when it comes to the facts, and to be willing to be moved to at least consider the positions of others. Not to get all “American History” on you, but that is part of the foundation of this country, i.e. healthy debate. Let’s have it and then let’s take some action that addresses long-standing societal problems that are frankly not a question of if they are happening, because they are. But rather, of how we can make progress when it comes to racism that will strengthen who we are as individuals, families, communities, and country. I am happy to once again offer a collection of stories that should entertain, inspire, motivate and hopefully, make you feel good. The stories include: Olympic champion, and mom, Allyson Felix; one-time UFC champion Daniel Cormier; the Olympic And Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs; an athlete-driven effort to highlight the importance of voting and being socially active; a biking challenge know as “Everesting;” how the ever-so-important Little League is adapting in challenging times; the surprising role sports played in women’s suffrage; Athletes Unlimited’s ‘innovative new model’ for women’s professional softball; an opinion piece on athletes speaking up; and a children’s book about one of the most impressive athletes we have ever featured, centenarian Fauja Singh.
Please continue to send along your stories. You’re both our audience and best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood and on Instagram.
Top Stories of the Week
The Olympian That Stood Up To A $170 Billion Global Brand, Forced Change, And Got Paid In The Process (HuddleUp) For full story, please click here.
Daniel Cormier’s career was imperfect, but always inspirational (ESPN) For full story, please click here.
The Olympic And Paralympic Museum In Colorado Springs Offers Inclusive Hope In A Time Of Darkness (YourTango) For full story, please click here.
Top American athletes align behind More Than A Vote coalition (SportBusiness) For full story, please click here.
How to Cycle Up ‘Mount Everest’ (New York Times) For full story, please click here.
Doing Business In A State Of Gray: How Little League Is Adapting In Challenging Times… (JoeFavorito.com) For full story, please click here.
The Surprising Role Sports Played in Women’s Suffrage (TeenVogue) For full story, please click here.
Athletes Unlimited kicks off with an ‘innovative new model’ for professional softball (ESPN) For full story, please click here.
Opinion: Athletes give voice to voiceless. ‘It takes monumental courage to stand up’ (USA Today) For full story, please click here.
Kid’s book about the world’s oldest marathon runner is the first by a major publisher to center on a Sikh character (CNN) For full story, please click here.
| More About Us 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 Sarbjit “Sab” Singh sab@sportsdoinggood.com 516-287-7141 Assistant Professor Sport Management Farmingdale State College |
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