Sept. 8 – Sept. 21, 2024
Welcome to issue four hundred and forty-eight of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. How San Marino, world’s worst team, got first win in 20 years (ESPN)
2. Davis Warren’s improbable road from kid with cancer to Michigan’s starting QB (Yahoo!)
3. How Lauren Coughlin, the Solheim Cup’s oldest rookie, learned to believe in her golf game (New York Times)
4. How Curling Canada is championing gender equity on and off the ice (SportsPro Media)
5. ‘It’s common sense’: Why sport must invest in sustainability now to prepare for its future (SportsPro Daily)
6. Thorns owner Bhathal Merage on cementing Portland as the ‘epicenter’ of women’s sports (Portland Business Journal)
7. He Started as a Custodian. Now, He’s in Charge of All the Courts. (Georgetown.edu)
8. WNBA 2024: Year of the Rookie (ESPN)
9. Shohei Ohtani first 50/50 player in major league history (ESPN)
10. “Creating a culture of peace”: How athletes demonstrated the unifying power of sport during Paris 2024 (Olympics.org)


10+
A Fresh Look, Deeper Impact: Explore the New Beyond Sport (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2024/09/11/a-fresh-look-deeper-impact-explore-the-new-beyond-sport/
Muguruza and Moses – Two generations of Laureus athletes champion youth in Hong Kong (Laureus)
https://www.laureus.com/news/muguruza-and-moses-two-generations-of-laureus-athletes-champion-youth-in-hong-kong
Climate Cup 2024: The only climate-dedicated football tournament in the world (Football and Climate Change Newsletter)
https://footballandclimatechange.substack.com/p/climate-cup-2024
Towards Wellbeing and Joy (Medium)
https://medium.com/change-maker/towards-wellbeing-and-joy-f7b833a68b3a
Is it worth it? 10 questions athletes should consider if they play on a travel team (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2024/09/14/club-travel-sports-college-aspirations/75211485007/


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!

For 9 years, 9 months and 9 days he was unbeaten: A new film documents the journey of Olympic icon Edwin Moses (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/21/sport/edwin-moses-olympics-hurdles-documentary-spt-intl/index.html

How stadiums can help fans with ‘invisible disabilities’ (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/40276381/how-stadiums-help-fans-invisible-disabilities

Introduction
Two announcements from friends to start us off.

The next Columbia University Sports Management Conference will take place on Thursday, October 10 @ Columbia’s Lerner Hall, 2920 Broadway, NY, NY 10027.
https://sps.columbia.edu/columbia-university-sports-management-conference

The George Washington University Sports Philanthropy Executive Certificate Program is the first and premiere program of its kind designed for individuals working in the sport for good space be it for non-profits, sport teams, leagues, foundations, corporate sponsors, or government. For additional program information visit the George Washington University Sports Philanthropy Website or email sportsphil@gwu.edu or call 301-440-8044. In the application, be sure to identify “Sports Doing Good” Newsletter in the application to receive a minimum of a $500 scholarship. Additional funding is often sourced through organizations’ continuing education funds, capacity building grants, or other funders.

This past week in one of my classes, “Foundations of Sports Management,” we addressed two topics. One, why sports? And two, the history of sports. Both discussions were lively and actually led to a third topic, “why history?” which was its own spirited conversation.

I have included a fair number of stories over the years that highlighted individuals, organizations, and events of the past. Sometimes that has come at a special anniversary, e.g., in 2022, the 50th anniversary of Title IX. I think I have always appreciated the wonder and importance of history. Perhaps that appreciation has grown as I have gotten older.

Part of the wonder of sports are the memories we have collected over the years. We cherish these memories and often return to them when we get together with the people with whom we shared that experience. These memories are also shared with the younger generations, giving them a chance to learn where we came from and providing some context for the experiences they have.

The story I am featuring this week comes from ESPN, “How San Marino, world’s worst team, got first win in 20 years.” This story definitely pushes the “why sports” and “history of sports” buttons. San Marino is a tiny landlocked country in Europe which had lost every game it played in the past 20 years. Yes, you heard right, a 20-year losing strike. (sounds like a team I would support.) But to be sure, this country/team has fans. From the article:

None of this put off San Marino’s unique group of ultras, the
“Brigata Mai 1 Gioia” (Never Any Joy Brigade.) Hailing mainly
from Italy, they cheer on San Marino at every home game and
many away games since they were formed in 2004, priding
themselves on the fact they had never seen their heroes win.
Well, this group of fans, and the global soccer community, were treated to the unlikeliest of results, a win. Shout out to San Marino and all of those who saw the game and will be able to share that moment for generations to come. That is definitely sports doing good.

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.

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.

How San Marino, world’s worst team, got first win in 20 years (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41146532/how-san-marino-worlds-worst-team-got-first-win-20-years

Davis Warren’s improbable road from kid with cancer to Michigan’s starting QB (Yahoo!)
https://sports.yahoo.com/davis-warrens-improbable-road-from-kid-with-cancer-to-michigans-starting-qb-143053981.html

How Lauren Coughlin, the Solheim Cup’s oldest rookie, learned to believe in her golf game (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5760904/2024/09/12/lauren-coughlin-solheim-cup-usa-rookie/

How Curling Canada is championing gender equity on and off the ice (SportsPro Media)
https://www.sportspromedia.com/insights/analysis/curling-canada-gender-equity-womens-sport-prize-money-funding-new-era/

‘It’s common sense’: Why sport must invest in sustainability now to prepare for its future (SportsPro Daily)
https://www.sportspromedia.com/insights/analysis/sport-sustainability-social-impact-nature-positive-rsk-charlton-athletic/

Thorns owner Bhathal Merage on cementing Portland as the ‘epicenter’ of women’s sports (Portland Business Journal)
https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2024/08/27/thorns-owner-bhathal-merage-practice-womens-sports.html

He Started as a Custodian. Now, He’s in Charge of All the Courts. (Georgetown.edu)
https://www.georgetown.edu/news/he-started-as-a-custodian-now-hes-in-charge-of-all-the-courts/

WNBA 2024: Year of the Rookie (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/40931050/wnba-2024-rookie-year-line-clark-reese-brink

Shohei Ohtani first 50/50 player in major league history (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/41331747/dodgers-ohtani-first-50-50-player-major-league-history

“Creating a culture of peace”: How athletes demonstrated the unifying power of sport during Paris 2024 (Olympics.org)
https://olympics.com/ioc/news/creating-a-culture-of-peace-how-athletes-demonstrated-the-unifying-power-of-sport-during-paris-2024


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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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