April 9 – April 22, 2023
Welcome to issue four hundred and twelve of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Sealand: The national football team from a country half the size of a football pitch (The Athletic)
2. We Should Mythologize Women’s Sports (The New York Times)
3. Caitlin Clark Is A ‘Cheat Code’ In Philanthropy, Says Food Pantry (Sunny Skyz)
4. 23-year-old golfer Sam Bennett has the last thing his dad ever wrote tattooed on his arm (Today)
5. Pro Rugby Digs its Cleats (Sports History Weekly)
6. Mr. Irrelevant Has Never Been More Relevant (SI)
7. The USWNT brand is big business, and players are ready to cash in for the 2023 Women’s World Cup (ESPN)
8. What’s It Like to Be Shohei Ohtani? Only Bo Would Know. (New York Times)
9. Chess, books, Netflix: Hockey goalies try anything to unplug (AP)
10. ‘Thank you, Wrexham AFC’: Hollywood owners join fans to celebrate promotion (The Guardian)


10+
The insider’s scoop! How to build a sports diplomacy initiative: notes from the field (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/insider%E2%80%99s-scoop-how-build-sports-diplomacy-initiative-notes-field
High schooler mocked for wearing the same clothes every day surprised by football players (Upworthy)
https://www.upworthy.com/high-schooler-mocked-for-wearing-the-same-clothes-every-day-surprised-by-football-players-rp2
A swim in the river, a jog with the breeze, and a game of catch amidst tall trees (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/swim-river-jog-breeze-and-game-catch-amidst-tall-trees
10 Steps to Build a Better Youth Sport System (Global Sport Matters)
https://globalsportmatters.com/youth/2023/04/09/10-steps-to-build-a-better-youth-sport-organizations-system/
Puma India Launch Campaign to Change Mindsets Around Sports (Beyond Sport)
https://www.beyondsport.org/articles/puma-india-launch-campaign-to-change-mindsets-around-sports/


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!

SSAC23 – Performance Under Pressure (MIT Sloan)
https://youtu.be/jdhFSLxaekU
Catching a Wave with World Surf League CEO Erik Logan (Bloomberg Sports)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2023-04-07/catching-a-wave-with-world-surf-league-ceo-erik-logan-podcast
Making youth sports more available to low-income families (WOSU)
https://news.wosu.org/show/all-sides-with-ann-fisher/2023-04-11/making-youth-sports-more-available-to-low-income-families
Riding a BMX bowl under a HOT AIR BALLOON (Red Bull)
https://youtu.be/PSVuDBKLC5A


Introduction
In a recent class I taught in the graduate sports management program at Columbia University, we talked about emerging sports and sports leagues. To get some perspective on the challenges, and opportunities, that exist for these sports/leagues, I asked the class about what attracted to them to the more established sports leagues, teams, and players. Tradition, familiarity, and access were 3 of the big reasons given for the popularity of these “major” sports.

What becomes of the sports/leagues without the benefit of those 3 elements? There is hope, of course, for them but there is also the reality that the compounding “interest” enjoyed each day by the established leagues is not a luxury they have, yet.

Among the sports/leagues we looked at were those on the women’s side. As these sports, leagues, teams, and athletes emerge, they must be supported by the same type of “ecosystem” that has existed for men’s sports for decades, include the media-obsessed period we have lived through over the past 20 years. But for those connected to women’s sports – there are more of us every day in that camp – the work must be undertaken now, without waiting for the “traditional” media powers to anoint women’s sports worthy of their attention.

In Kate Fagan’s guest essay in the New York Times, “We Should Mythologize Women’s Sports,” one of the 10 featured stories in this edition of the Sports Doing Good newsletter, she posits that women’s sports have heretofore not benefited from the same type of mythologizing that has elevated men’s sports over time. I think she is right. And I also agree with her implication that such storytelling, through words, images, and video, is surely appropriate for women’s sports as well. I was among the millions that watched Caitlan Clark’s run to the NCAA championship and ultimate battle against Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers. It was must-see TV, and it gave us a multitude of things to highlight for the present and future generations.

I am excited by the positive trends associated with women’s sports, and other emerging entities in the sports and entertainment space (in class we spent some time talking about the rebirth of Slamball). These newer sports give us more and more great moments, and for the students interested in working in the field, more and more opportunities to achieve their own career goals.

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.

Sealand: The national football team from a country half the size of a football pitch (The Athletic)
https://theathletic.com/4368448/2023/04/02/sealand-the-national-football-team-from-a-country-half-the-size-of-a-football-pitch/

We Should Mythologize Women’s Sports (The New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/opinion/women-sports.html

Caitlin Clark Is A ‘Cheat Code’ In Philanthropy, Says Food Pantry (Sunny Skyz)
https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/4998/Caitlin-Clark-Is-A-039-Cheat-Code-039-In-Philanthropy-Says-Food-Pantry

23-year-old golfer Sam Bennett has the last thing his dad ever wrote tattooed on his arm (Today)
https://www.today.com/parents/sam-bennett-tattoo-dad-rcna78441

Pro Rugby Digs its Cleats (Sports History Weekly)
https://www.sportshistoryweekly.com/stories/rugby-world-cup-major-league-rugby-ironworkers-usa-rugby,1143

Mr. Irrelevant Has Never Been More Relevant (SI)
https://www.si.com/nfl/2023/04/21/mr-irrelevant-49ers-brock-purdy-nfl-draft

The USWNT brand is big business, and players are ready to cash in for the 2023 Women’s World Cup (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usaw/story/4922140/uswnt-brand-big-business-players-ready-cash-in-2023-women-world-cup

What’s It Like to Be Shohei Ohtani? Only Bo Would Know. (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/sports/baseball/shohei-ohtani-bo-jackson.html

Chess, books, Netflix: Hockey goalies try anything to unplug (AP)
https://apnews.com/article/nhl-playoffs-stanley-cup-96b2e5d96b2d95a6ec4f19724d30dcf2

‘Thank you, Wrexham AFC’: Hollywood owners join fans to celebrate promotion (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/apr/23/thank-you-wrexham-afc-hollywood-film-star-owners-join-fans-to-celebrate-promotion

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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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