Welcome to week three hundred and forty-six of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:
- A collection of untold, must-read Boban Marjanovic stories (The Athletic)
- Gio Reyna, the son of Captain America, is U.S. soccer’s next superhero (ESPN)
- Athletes protesting social injustice get support from sport psychologists (APA)
- Brooklyn Nets owners pledge $50 million to create ‘economic mobility’ in the Black community (CNBC)
- The NBA took a stand against police violence. But a second message quickly became clear (CNN.com)
- Amid pandemic, this Mumbai-based NGO teaches life skills through online football classes to slum children (The Hindu)
- Sports Benefit Girls, But Barriers Remain-Nike Releases A Girls Coaching Guide To Combat Them (Forbes)
- Dodgers coach inspired by his mother, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and stared down the Ku Klux Klan (ESPN)
- A Basketball Friendship Became a Tag Team for Social Justice (New York Times)
- Tom Seaver and why sometimes you really should meet your heroes (ESPN)
10+
An immersive world of football, culture and social impact (Sustainability Report)
https://sustainabilityreport.com/2020/08/27/an-immersive-world-of-football-culture-and-social-impact/
Internet loves this 12-year old skateboarder’s comeback moment (CNN.com)
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/08/31/skateboarder-flying-comeback-jeanne-moos-vpx.cnn
Four steps for co-designing sport programmes with refugee-background young people (Sport and Dev)https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/four-steps-co-designing-sport-programmes-refugee-background-young-people
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.
The Guys Remember Legendary Coach John Thompson | NBA on TNT (YouTube)https://youtu.be/ptqB5-Daipo Grant Hill Pens Essay Tributing Legendary Georgetown Coach John Thompson | NBA on TNT (YouTube)https://youtu.be/ETz95WQzaNo
Introduction
One of the great things about sports, obviously, is the idea of heroes, i.e. athletes and sometimes coaches who inspire us as kids and even as adults. We build a connection to them despite usually never meeting them. That relationship is not all rosy, of course. These athletes and coaches don’t win every game or hit every shot. But that is why the bond is so special and feels so real. There is good and bad. The bad times are bad but the good times can be awesome. Another aspect of having heroes, that you don’t realize until you are older, is that the heroes don’t live forever. You want them to, since their presence gives you a constant reminder of a special time in your life. And you can revisit that time over and over and over. But they do pass on. That is just part of them being real. This week two individuals who were sources of much joy for me passed away. Each was influential in a different way but their impact was equally strong. I included each in the newsletter this week. First, there is Tom Seaver. The Hall of Famer was a legendary pitcher and spent many of his best years with the New York Mets, a team that, until Seaver joined them, gave substance to the word “hapless.” But sometimes the talent and attitude of one player can help start to turn things around. And in the case of the Mets, Seaver was the guy. The Mets won the World Series in 1969 with Seaver leading the way. He continued to excel for the team until he was traded in the late 1970s, something most Met fans still question. Seaver went on to win more than 300 games and cement his status of one of the game’s best ever. Upon his passing, I read multiple articles and dozens upon dozens of posts on social media. Seaver helped define the childhood of many of us. To lose him, even though we are now middle-aged adults, still hurts. But the hurt is not that of a 10-year old, but rather adults who understand the passage of time, the value of heroes, and cherish memories that young people don’t realize are occurring when they are. The other figure who passed away that I highlight in our video section is John Thompson, Jr., legendary (there’s that word again) basketball coach at my alma mater Georgetown University. Thompson was a very successful coach and that success was highlighted in so many shared remembrances of the coach. But to many he was so much more. He was a pioneer in the coaching ranks. He was a role model to many, especially many black basketball players and coaches. He spoke to issues about equality and fairness 40 years before today’s discussions and protests. But for me, Thompson gave the school panache. He made it special and a place that people wanted to be. Of course, there were other reasons to attend Georgetown, but for me, a not so small part was the chance to be in the vicinity of Thompson and Hoya Paranoia. My life is very much defined by my time at Georgetown and the thirty years since. Thompson was part of that, and I am grateful for his part in making me a Hoya. The ten articles being featured this week include: the very fun NBA player Boban Marjanovic; emerging U.S. soccer star Gio Reyna; perspectives from sports psychologists about athlete protests; a major financial donation to the community by the owners of the Brooklyn Nets; the NBA’s position as leader in the social justice movement; the ongoing influence on young people in Mumbai, India of the wonderful NGO, the Oscar Foundation; a guide by Nike to help attract and then keep girls interested in playing sports; Los Angeles Dodgers coach George Lombard and the inspiration he drew from his equal rights-advocate mom; and a burgeoning friendship between star basketball players and activists Natasha Cloud of the Washington Mystics and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards.
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
A collection of untold, must-read Boban Marjanovic stories (The Athletic) For full story, please click here.
Gio Reyna, the son of Captain America, is U.S. soccer’s next superhero (ESPN) For full story, please click here.
Athletes protesting social injustice get support from sport psychologists (APA) For full story, please click here.
Brooklyn Nets owners pledge $50 million to create ‘economic mobility’ in the Black community (CNBC) For full story, please click here.
The NBA took a stand against police violence. But a second message quickly became clear (CNN.com) For full story, please click here.
Amid pandemic, this Mumbai-based NGO teaches life skills through online football classes to slum children (The Hindu) For full story, please click here.
Sports Benefit Girls, But Barriers Remain-Nike Releases A Girls Coaching Guide To Combat Them (Forbes) For full story, please click here.
Dodgers coach inspired by his mother, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. and stared down the Ku Klux Klan (ESPN) For full story, please click here.
A Basketball Friendship Became a Tag Team for Social Justice (New York Times) For full story, please click here.
Tom Seaver and why sometimes you really should meet your heroes (ESPN) 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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