June 20 – July 3, 2021
Welcome to issue three hundred and sixty-seven of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Simone Manuel Is In A Lane Of Her Own (FiveThirtyEight)
2. Former Iranian refugee represents the United States as karate world champion (UNHCR)
3. Simone Biles Finds Her Balance (Glamour)
4. The historic rivalry between England and Germany that changed football forever (CNN)
5. Six-time Olympic champion Allyson Felix: ‘I want my legacy to be one of someone who fought for women’ (CNN)
6. How Boxing Launched Radio (SI)
7. This Sprinter Wants to Tackle Health Disparities—But First, the Olympic Trials (Runners World)
8. College Athletes May Earn Money From Their Fame, N.C.A.A. Rules (New York Times)
9. NBA Launchpad initiative seeks to improve basketball through emerging technologies (USA Today)
10. Sajan Prakash Headed to Tokyo, With a Little Help From His Friends (The Quint)


10+
Allyson Felix Commits to Donating Olympic Winnings to Right To Play (Right to Play)
https://righttoplayusa.org/en/national-offices/national-office-usa/whats-new/allyson-felix-commits-to-donating-olympic-winnings-to-right-to-play/
Trailblazing Athlete Chris Mosier Advocates for Transgender Rights (Beyond Sport)
http://www.beyondsport.org/articles/chris-mosier-talks-transgender-rights/
Skateistan launches ‘Back on Board’ campaign (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/skateistan-launches-back-board-campaign
Sports and Entertainment Icons Unite to Raise over $130,000 for Up2Us Sports at Annual Gala (Up2Us Sports)
https://www.up2us.org/blog/2021/6/18/sports-and-entertainment-icons-unite-to-raise-over-130000-for-up2us-sports-at-annual-gala
NBA great Chris Bosh on the values of visualizing (NAYS)
https://www.nays.org/sklive/features/nba-great-chris-bosh-on-the-values-of-visualizing/


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. And now we add podcasts!

Deyhahsanoondey (Lyle Thompson) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/lyle-thompson-premier-lacrosse-league
How boxing is changing the way society looks at women in Gaza (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/02/sport/gaza-women-boxing-cmd-spt-intl/index.html


Introduction
A huge story that came out this week deals with changes in the rules with respect to opportunities for NCAA athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). I understand that some might question how increased commercialization of sports in our country could be a “sports doing good” moment. Believe me, I often bemoan the offensiveness of dollars that don’t add to the enjoyment and/or the accessibility of sports for fans and athletes. However, in this case, not all is bad.

It would take too much time – and there are already many others who have spoken eloquently about athlete rights – to address the entire debate of amateurism, money, and fairness. I will just touch upon the last piece, fairness.

The inconsistency baked into the implicit policy of “money for everyone” involved with college sports, except the athlete, was for me, infuriating. I certainly understand the give and take between schools and athletes, the monetary value of athletic scholarships and the intangibles that come with being a college athlete. However, I also know of many challenges that athletes, whether DI, DII, or DIII, have to face unnecessarily during and after their time in college. The move to compensation for athletes won’t solve everything and may in fact invite some issues that will have to be worked out. However, the need to make adjustments should not preclude any consideration of athlete needs and rights. Let’s see how things develop but in the short run, I am glad that young athletes will have the choice to further benefit from their skills.

An additional, quick, note about the stories this week. Yes, I am a HUGE fan of the Olympics, and am glad they will take place in some form, this summer. This was not an easy decision for athletes, federations, governing bodies, the IOC, or certainly, the good people of Tokyo and Japan. I hope things go well and that we are blessed, again, with the wonder that comes with the world’s best coming together in the spirit of competition and brotherhood/sisterhood.

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.

Simone Manuel Is In A Lane Of Her Own (FiveThirtyEight)
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/simone-manuel-is-in-a-lane-of-her-own/

Former Iranian refugee represents the United States as karate world champion (UNHCR)
https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/stories/2021/6/60cde22b4/former-iranian-refugee-represents-the-united-states-as-karate-world-champion.html

Simone Biles Finds Her Balance (Glamour)
https://www.glamour.com/story/simone-biles-finds-her-balance

The historic rivalry between England and Germany that changed football forever (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/football/england-germany-euro-2020-rivarly-cmd-spt-intl/index.html

Six-time Olympic champion Allyson Felix: ‘I want my legacy to be one of someone who fought for women’ (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/19/sport/allyson-felix-road-to-tokyo-cmd-spt-intl/index.html

How Boxing Launched Radio (SI)
https://www.si.com/boxing/2021/06/30/how-boxing-launched-radio-daily-cover

This Sprinter Wants to Tackle Health Disparities—But First, the Olympic Trials (Runners World)
https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a36688883/gabby-thomas-olympic-trials/

College Athletes May Earn Money From Their Fame, N.C.A.A. Rules (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/sports/ncaabasketball/ncaa-nil-rules.html

NBA Launchpad initiative seeks to improve basketball through emerging technologies (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2021/06/01/nba-launchpad-seeks-improve-basketball-through-emerging-technology/7467147002/

Sajan Prakash Headed to Tokyo, With a Little Help From His Friends (The Quint)
https://www.thequint.com/sports/olympic-sports/tokyo-olympics-sajan-prakash-first-indian-to-book-an-automatic-qualification-spot-in-swimming-at-the-olympics#read-more


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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.

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