Dec. 11 – Dec. 31, 2022
Welcome to issue four hundred and four of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. The reason Japanese fans clean up after World Cup matches boils down to one word—’atarimae’ (Upworthy)
2. Meet the 2022 SportsKid of the Year (SI/Favorito)
3. Inside Sarah Langs’ inspiring ALS fight — which hasn’t slowed her baseball media rise (New York Post)
4. The team history must not forget: Ukrainian soccer’s fight to carry on (ESPN)
5. From ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ to beating the NFL’s GOAT: Meet new San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (CNN)
6. Out of Darkness, a Light: Behind Cailin Bracken’s Letter to College Sports (USA Lax Magazine/Favorito)
7. In just two years, the ‘Coalition Academy’ has boosted Black assistants to top-flight head coaching jobs (Andscape)
8. With 25 million players worldwide, padel is only tipped to get ‘bigger and bigger’ by tennis star Andy Murray (CNN)
9. Far From the World Cup, the Essence of Argentine Soccer Expands Its Reach (New York Times)
10. The Best of Us: A Tribute to Grant Wahl (The Nation)


10+
Manual on Human Rights Education through Sport (ENGSO Youth)
https://youth-sport.net/2022/12/09/manual-on-human-rights-education-through-sport/
Global Sport and Human Rights Academy (Center for Sport and Human Rights)
https://www.sporthumanrights.org/academy/
Peace and Sport is Rewarded with the 2022 Peace Summit Award at the 18th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Pyeongchang (Peace and Sport)
https://www.peace-sport.org/news/peace-and-sport-is-rewarded-with-the-2022-peace-summit-award-at-the-18th-world-summit-of-nobel-peace-laureates-in-pyeongchang/
Another Record-Breaking Year for Beyond Sport! (Beyond Sport)
https://www.beyondsport.org/articles/another-record-breaking-year-for-beyond-sport/
De-mystifying Web 3.0 and potential solutions for sport for development and peace (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/de-mystifying-web-30-and-potential-solutions-sport-development-and-peace


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!

Future of Sports: Grant Wahl’s Legacy (Aspen Institute)
https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/grant-wahl-legacy/
David Sikorjak On The Many Benefits of Sports Fandom (CUSP)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/298-david-sikorjak-on-the-many-benefits-of-sports-fandom/id1073489617?i=1000590241992


Introduction
On this last day of 2022, I am happy, and fortunate, to be able to send out another Sports Doing Good newsletter. It has been another great year of good, no doubt. This issue makes 25 for the year, with 435 stories featured, found in more than 40 sources. The newsletter has always been a labor of love, but without the burden of “labor.” I am not sure I buy the whole, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life,” credo, since doing the newsletter definitely takes work. But I get the idea, and that is, find things that drive you so much that the tough times – and there will be tough times – will be worth it, and you will find ways to overcome those challenges on your own and/or with the help of others.

A lot has happened since the last newsletter on December 11, both here and abroad. One of the most compelling was, of course, the World Cup. Congrats to the Argentina team and its millions of fans. I offer 4 football/soccer related stories, as well as a moving video consisting of panelists who discuss the life, work, and legacy of Grant Wahl hosted by Tom Farrey and the Aspen Institute.

The passing of journalist Grant Wahl was what they call, “a punch to the gut.” I did not know Grant personally, but I read A LOT of what he wrote, especially during his time at Sports Illustrated. I put him in the same category as Steve Rushin and Rick Reilly, in that when I saw that they were in an issue, I thought, “This is going to be great.” Grant covered two things I care about, college basketball and soccer, and it is with the latter that I feel most connected with him. As a lifelong soccer player and fan, I have seen the sport grow in this country and around the world. I feel kinship with those who play and cheer, as well as those who cover the sport. And maybe no one was better than Grant. I always felt he was fair and insightful, and that by writing about the sport – here and abroad – he was helping elevate it in the United States. He was that good.

When I saw on my phone three weeks ago a Facebook post from US Soccer “on the passing of Grant Wahl,” I was in a state of disbelief. It didn’t matter if you knew him or not, it hurt, a lot. Over the next 24 hours, I read a lot about Grant, maybe hoping that the more I knew about him, the less true the terrible news of his passing. I was moved by those who posted on social media, LinkedIn and elsewhere about their friendship with him, how he was always at the ready with advice, insights, an appearance on a panel or as a guest lecturer. I can only imagine the added level of sadness that they/you were/are feeling.

My intention is not to write something that brings the year to a close on a down note. Rather, this reflection on Grant is part of a larger effort for me to reflect on the good and bad in 2022. I am 100% sure that there will be good and bad in 2023, as well, and the bad may very well suck. That’s reality, that’s life. But what also is reality and life, is that there is so much good happening in sports and society at large. I guarantee that I will keep trying to find stories that will inform you, inspire you, and maybe even move you to action. At the very least, I hope you will feel the good that emanates from every single story featured. All the best to you and yours in 2023.

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.

The reason Japanese fans clean up after World Cup matches boils down to one word—’atarimae’ (Upworthy)
https://www.upworthy.com/japanese-fans-clean-up-world-cup-stadium-atarimae

Meet the 2022 SportsKid of the Year (SI/Favorito)
https://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/2022/11/23/carter-bonas-2022-sportskid-of-the-year-daily-cover

Inside Sarah Langs’ inspiring ALS fight — which hasn’t slowed her baseball media rise (New York Post)
https://nypost.com/2022/12/06/inside-sarah-langs-inspiring-als-fight-which-hasnt-slowed-her-baseball-media-rise/

The team history must not forget: Ukrainian soccer’s fight to carry on (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/4826101/how-the-ukraine-soccer-team-fought-back-amid-war-with-russia

From ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ to beating the NFL’s GOAT: Meet new San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/sport/brock-purdy-san-francisco-49ers-nfl-spt-intl/index.html

Out of Darkness, a Light: Behind Cailin Bracken’s Letter to College Sports (USA Lax Magazine/Favorito)
https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/women/out-of-darkness-a-light-behind-cailin-brackens-letter-to-college-sports

In just two years, the ‘Coalition Academy’ has boosted Black assistants to top-flight head coaching jobs (Andscape)
https://andscape.com/features/in-just-two-years-the-coalition-academy-has-boosted-black-assistants-to-top-flight-head-coaching-jobs/

With 25 million players worldwide, padel is only tipped to get ‘bigger and bigger’ by tennis star Andy Murray (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/tennis/padel-andy-jamie-murray-spt-intl/index.html

Far From the World Cup, the Essence of Argentine Soccer Expands Its Reach (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/27/sports/soccer/world-cup-argentina-street-soccer.html

The Best of Us: A Tribute to Grant Wahl (The Nation)
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/grant-wahl-soccer/


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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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