April 23 – May 6, 2023
Welcome to issue four hundred and thirteen of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. A German Soccer Team’s Radical Fix for Declining Attendance: Free Tickets (Wall Street Journal)
2. Project 8 Announces Toronto Franchise and its Fourth Major Partnership with DoorDash Canada (Newswire Canada)
3. Amid his F1 exile, Daniel Ricciardo rebuilds himself for a return: ‘I know I’m not done’ (The Athletic)
4. Carolyn Peck enters the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame a pioneer for Black coaches (Andscape)
5. Passionate Baseball Fans and (Very) Thin Air Let Mexico City Shine (New York Times)
6. Texas man becomes unlikely Australian rules football star, mastering world’s “roughest sport” (60 Minutes)
7. Youth Sports: Supply. Demand. Access. (Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal)
8. Joakim Noah Starting Chicago Basketball League With Violence Prevention Groups (Bleacher Report)
9. How viral tweet helped Isaiah Winstead get his NFL shot with the 49ers (USA Today)
10. How mariachi culture pulled at the heartstrings of MLB beyond Cinco de Mayo festivities (ESPN)


10+
Nike’s Caitlin Morris: “Be a Change Agent” (Aspen Project Play)
https://www.aspenprojectplay.org/news/caitlin-morris-nike
Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder in Sports–Beyond Superstitions (Science Direct)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667382723000029
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/
Of sustainability and using sport to drive change (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/sustainability-and-using-sport-drive-change
Beyond Sport, Z Zurich Foundation and Zurich North America Collaborate on Youth Mental Health (Beyond Sport)
https://www.beyondsport.org/press-releases/beyond-sport-zurich-foundation-and-zurich-north-america-announce-collaboration/


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!

How Julie Haddon Is Reinventing the National Women’s Soccer League as Its First CMO (Adweek)
https://www.adweek.com/creativity/how-julie-haddon-is-reinventing-the-nwsl-as-its-first-cmo/
Hoda and Jenna surprise coach of The 18th Ward in New Orleans (Today)
https://www.today.com/video/hoda-and-jenna-surprise-founder-of-the-18th-ward-youth-program-172255813968


Introduction

If you have been paying even just a little bit of attention to the news, you have seen continuous discussion of artificial intelligence (AI). One thing to know is that it will “change everything!” This isn’t commentary on AI – I am sure that will come up at some point – but rather about another phenomenon that has changed a lot, if not everything, about how we do things, certainly how we communicate, and that is social media.

An important element of social media is the fact that we can now advocate for ourselves. We no longer need to wait for limited media outlets to consider what we have to say or what we are promoting, and most often decide not to cover it. We “cover” ourselves. And while, admittedly, a huge amount of social media content is, let’s just say, not that important, there are countless examples daily of positivity being put out there for the world to see, appreciate, and often time, make viral.

A story we feature this week is a perfect example of social media being social media. As documented in a more “traditional” medium, i.e., online, USA Today offered the following, “East Carolina wide receiver Isaiah Winstead thought he would hear his name called during the NFL draft last weekend. But it wasn’t. Then he thought his phone would ring with contract offers or invitations to rookie minicamps. But it didn’t.”

So, what did Isaiah do? He became his biggest and best advocate. He posted a 75-second video of his excellence on the football field, and the calls, texts, and emails started coming. He has decided to sign a contract with the San Francisco 49ers. As his agent, Gervaris Leaphart, the founder of VL Sports, said, “We just wanted to put the video out there and just see what social media’s going to do.” “You’ve just got to pray and hope everything goes the right way. He’s the one that got blessed.”

We love the stories of talented folks, whatever their field, e.g., sports, music, the arts, who are looking for their chance to advance themselves after working so hard. As the article finishes up, “I’m humble. I don’t brag on myself,” Winstead said. “I just wanted a chance.”

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.

A German Soccer Team’s Radical Fix for Declining Attendance: Free Tickets (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bundesliga-fortuna-dusseldorf-free-tickets-e6fcfd1a

Project 8 Announces Toronto Franchise and its Fourth Major Partnership with DoorDash Canada (Newswire Canada)
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/project-8-announces-toronto-franchise-and-its-fourth-major-partnership-with-doordash-canada-885022906.html

Amid his F1 exile, Daniel Ricciardo rebuilds himself for a return: ‘I know I’m not done’ (The Athletic)
https://theathletic.com/4448684/2023/04/27/daniel-ricciardo-f1-red-bull/

Carolyn Peck enters the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame a pioneer for Black coaches (Andscape)
https://andscape.com/features/carolyn-peck-enters-the-womens-basketball-hall-of-fame-a-pioneer-for-black-coaches/

Passionate Baseball Fans and (Very) Thin Air Let Mexico City Shine (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/sports/baseball/padres-giants-mexico-city.html

Texas man becomes unlikely Australian rules football star, mastering world’s “roughest sport” (60 Minutes)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mason-cox-australian-rules-football-60-minutes-transcript-2023-04-30/

Youth Sports: Supply. Demand. Access. (Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal)
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2023/05/01/In-Depth/youth-sports.aspx

Joakim Noah Starting Chicago Basketball League With Violence Prevention Groups (Bleacher Report)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10074609-joakim-noah-starting-chicago-basketball-league-with-violence-prevention-groups

How viral tweet helped Isaiah Winstead get his NFL shot with the 49ers (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/49ers/2023/05/05/isaiah-winstead-viral-tweet-49ers-sign-free-agent-nfl-draft/70185579007/

How mariachi culture pulled at the heartstrings of MLB beyond Cinco de Mayo festivities (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37419741/how-mariachi-culture-pulled-heartstrings-mlb-cinco-de-mayo

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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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