May 19 – June 1, 2024
Welcome to issue four hundred and forty-one of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. The wacky, grueling bike race that captivates a Midwest college town (Washington Post)
2. Skateboarding’s Latest Trick: Reviving Cities (Reasons to be Cheerful)
3. Inside K.C. Chiefs’ Derrick Nnadi’s quest to save shelter dogs (ESPN)
4. Greg Olsen embraces role as pro youth sports dad and coach, provides helpful advice (USA Today)
5. How Jrue Holiday found his voice as a leader with help from his soccer star wife (The Athletic)
6. Beyond The Athlete: One On One With Danilo, Juventus And Brazil Captain (Forbes)
7. Bill Walton dies at 71: Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, sports world react to Hall of Famer’s passing (CBS Sports)
8. Saying Farewell to Rafael Nadal (The New Yorker)
9. Future Baylor Star VJ Edgecombe To Donate His NIL Money To A Bahamas School (Forbes)
10. NHL, Petco Love announce inaugural ‘Stanley Pup’ competition for rescue dogs (NHL)


10+
Becoming a Sports Diplomat: Skills, Knowledge, and Experience (Gavin Price/LinkedIn)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/becoming-sports-diplomat-skills-knowledge-experience-gavin-price-dthje/
The stress of recess: Here’s how schools are improving playtime (K-12 Dive)
https://www.k12dive.com/news/recess-play-at-schools-children/716954/
Super Bowl champion shares 5 core values for youth athletes regardless of economic status (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2024/05/26/torrey-smith-core-values-youth-sports-economic-status/73853535007/
Breakdancing Gains Momentum in Nigeria Ahead of 2024 Olympic Premiere (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/breakdancing-gains-momentum-nigeria-ahead-2024-olympic-premiere
Nike hosts youth coaching conference to address gender gap (The Gist)
https://www.thegistsports.com/article/nike-hosts-youth-coaching-conference-to-address-gender-gap/


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!

New Golden State WNBA team unveils name and brand identity on ‘GMA’ (Good Morning America)
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/new-golden-state-wnba-team-unveils-brand-identity-110191831
Daria Kasatkina, the world’s bravest tennis player (CBS Sunday Morning)
https://youtu.be/5TIYW46HZrM


Introduction
I am going to start with a quote from our friends at Good Good Good, who publish the GoodNewsletter (https://www.goodgoodgood.co/). The quote speaks to the challenge that we confront almost daily of hearing of/seeing troubles in the world, big and small, and overcoming the feeling to stay away from such news. We must not give up hope and our determination to make things better.

“When the news is particularly devastating, horrific, and heartbreaking — like what’s happening in Rafah — a natural response can be to disengage, protect, and distance ourselves from it. While there is a genuine case for protecting our mental health, we must do that carefully and thoughtfully — so that we can eventually re-engage in the fight for a better world, not detach from it. Because the privilege of experiencing tragedy through the news rather than first-hand comes with the responsibility to use that privilege for good.”

The heartbeat of this newsletter is based on the hundreds and hundreds of stories of individuals, organizations, companies, and countries using the privilege of life to serve fellow human beings in big and small ways. Not all of these individuals are the amazing athletes we have the chance to applaud and admire. They are folks like you and me who see a need and act accordingly. To have individuals like that in our lives is itself a privilege.

One of the stories we feature this week includes such an individual, NBA star Jrue Holiday of the Boston Celtics, a player who often is referred to along with his wife, Lauren Cheney Holiday, a fellow star athlete (US women’s soccer), and he absolutely has no problem with that. ? And she has no qualms complimenting the man she calls her husband.

The profile of the Holidays published in The Athletic speaks of financially independent, famous athletes, but ones who are also universally referred to as two of the best individuals and teammates that you could ever hope for. Their commitment to others, on and off the field/court, has integrated them into the various communities in which they have found themselves. And the important thing to remember is that this couple has not lived without tragedy and troubles. But as the quote above implied, if you are able to get through those tough times, or better yet, only have to see or hear about them, it is incumbent upon you to share your good fortune through service that makes the world a better place.

In closing I do want to acknowledge two passings this week. One is Bill Walton, legendary college and pro basketball player, broadcaster and proud Deadhead, who seemingly always made people around him feel better about life. Part of Walton’s appeal was his authenticity and genuineness. I enjoyed seeing photos posted all over social media of people having their “Bill moment” over the past few decades.

I also want to acknowledge the passing of young pro golfer, Grayson Murray, 30. I was not as familiar with Grayson as I was with Walton, but his passing may have hit me harder. Along with stories of Grayson’s passing, I did not see as many photos, but rather ones populated with comments asking each of us to be a resource for others who may be struggling with life. How do we know who those people are? We don’t, so it is better just to be there for each other whenever we can. We owe it to each other to “use our privilege for good.”

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or live chat at 988lifeline.org.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and the best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood and on Instagram.

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So, enjoy. And have a good week.

The wacky, grueling bike race that captivates a Midwest college town (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/interactive/2024/little-500-bike-race-indiana/

Skateboarding’s Latest Trick: Reviving Cities (Reasons to be Cheerful)
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/cities-skateboarding-public-spaces/

Inside K.C. Chiefs’ Derrick Nnadi’s quest to save shelter dogs (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/40178717/kansas-city-chiefs-defensive-tackle-derrick-nnadi-rescues-shelter-dogs

Greg Olsen embraces role as pro youth sports dad and coach, provides helpful advice (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2024/05/19/greg-olsen-lessons-for-managing-youth-sports/73738917007/

How Jrue Holiday found his voice as a leader with help from his soccer star wife (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5499499/2024/05/21/jrue-holiday-boston-celtics-lauren-us-soccer/

Beyond The Athlete: One On One With Danilo, Juventus And Brazil Captain (Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danieleproch/2024/05/20/beyond-the-athlete-one-on-one-with-danilo-juventus-and-brazil-captain/?sh=508f1820d112

Bill Walton dies at 71: Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, sports world react to Hall of Famer’s passing (CBS Sports)
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/bill-walton-dies-at-71-julius-erving-kareem-abdul-jabbar-sports-world-react-to-hall-of-famers-passing/

Saying Farewell to Rafael Nadal (The New Yorker)
https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/saying-farewell-to-rafael-nadal?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

Future Baylor Star VJ Edgecombe To Donate His NIL Money To A Bahamas School (Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffedotin/2024/05/09/future-baylor-star-vj-edgecombe-to-donate-his-nil-money-to-a-bahamas-school/

NHL, Petco Love announce inaugural ‘Stanley Pup’ competition for rescue dogs (NHL)
https://www.nhl.com/news/stanley-pup-competition-to-feature-rescue-dogs


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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.

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