Nov. 3 – Nov. 16, 2024
Welcome to issue four hundred and fifty-two of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Inside the decades-long struggle that made the Caitlin Clark phenomenon possible (New York Times)
2. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on Their ‘Lifelong Friendship,’ Favorite Matches Against Each Other, and Shooting with Louis Vuitton (GQ)
3. How NFL scout Mark Dulgerian scours four continents for talent (ESPN)
4. Pulling fastest in Formula E’s first Women’s Test (Formula E)
5. The Hard Part Out Loud (by Oksana Masters) (The Players’ Tribune)
6. NFL Center Connor McGovern Is the Heir to a Potato Empire (Front Office Sports)
7. How deliberate mis-kicks changed one of sport’s strangest positions (BBC)
8. Alyssa Thomas Can Barely Raise Her Arms, but She Still Dominates in the WNBA (SI)
9. Puma and Red Bull among 11 brands recognised for industry-leading social impact campaigns (SportsPro Media)
10. Lions Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown Is Working to Grow Football (GQ)


10+
A Few Words For My People Who Got Me Here (by Jayden Daniels) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/jayden-daniels-lsu-football-nfl
Michele Kang’s Kynisca Leads a $2M Investment in Women’s Footwear Brand IDA Sports (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2024/11/08/kynisca-leads-a-2m-investment-for-womens-footwear-brand-ida-sports/
10 Youth Sports Trends to Watch from the Aspen Institute and Project Play (Youth Sports Business Report)
https://youthsportsbusinessreport.com/10-youth-sports-trends-to-watch-from-the-aspen-institute-and-project-play/
Beyond Sport Announces 2024 Sport Together Fund Grantees, Supported by the New Balance Foundation (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2024/11/08/beyond-sport-announces-2024-sport-together-fund-grantees-supported-by-the-new-balance-foundation/
“Peace through sport used to be a dream, now it is reality” (Peace and Sport)
https://www.peace-sport.org/news/peace-through-sport-used-to-be-a-dream-now-it-is-reality/


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!

Service Learning Through Sports Sizzle Reel (The Aspen Institute)
https://youtu.be/H4Rgz4TCUzw?si=8ZD1CuPkqJqkP_OJ
#180: Tom Farrey – Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Founder (Profluence) https://profluence.com/podcast/tom-farrey-aspen-institute/
BBC Storywork’s GAME ON: Featuring Hoops+Health presented by Sun Life (Beyond Sport)
https://youtu.be/1cDfA5hSmcA?si=7IPc4DEObteDFM7Y


Introduction
The simultaneous global and regional character of sports has always intrigued me. I love that I played a sport for a long time – soccer/football – that is known around the world. There is no restriction when it comes to location on talent who can excel at the beautiful game and no limit to the number of people who can love the game as players and fans. That is true for sports that are more regional in nature, a blend of sport and culture that is happening in every country around the world. The beauty of sports is that your love for a particular player, team, or sport does not detract from my experience, and oftentimes, if we are rooting for the same team, our fandom gets turbocharged ever further.

I came across an article from ESPN, “How NFL scout Mark Dulgerian, scours four continents for talent,” that speaks to this regionalization/globalization dynamic with the National Football League (NFL). Mark Dulgerian is an international scout for the NFL trekking around the world for guys who could play American football at the highest level. You might think that there are enough guys who want to play in the NFL. Maybe. But the idea of helping grow the game in non-U.S. locations is a fun, and potentially lucrative, proposition.

I featured a story from 60 Minutes a few years ago about Mason Cox, an American who has become a star in the sport of Australian Rules Football. The uniqueness of his story caught my attention, and obviously that of the producers at 60 Minutes. Don’t be fooled. 60 Minutes has some credibility when it comes to great sports stories. The first time I heard about Shohei Ohtani was in 2017 on 60 Minutes, before he starred in the Major Leagues.

The idea of community and connecting with others via sports is a familiar theme in Sports Doing Good. Giving athletes a chance to express themselves in a sport that they did not necessarily grow up with is a special opportunity that seems to be taking off around the world, for the betterment of everyone. 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.

Inside the decades-long struggle that made the Caitlin Clark phenomenon possible (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5892540/2024/11/04/caitlin-clark-iowa-indiana-fever/

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on Their ‘Lifelong Friendship,’ Favorite Matches Against Each Other, and Shooting with Louis Vuitton (GQ)
https://www.gq.com/story/roger-federer-rafael-nadal-louis-vuitton

How NFL scout Mark Dulgerian scours four continents for talent (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/42274012/nfl-scout-mark-dulgerian-international-europe-new-york-giants-carolina-panthers

Pulling fastest in Formula E’s first Women’s Test (Formula E)
https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/512939

The Hard Part Out Loud (by Oksana Masters) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://projects.theplayerstribune.com/oksana-masters-the-hard-part-out-loud

NFL Center Connor McGovern Is the Heir to a Potato Empire (Front Office Sports)
https://frontofficesports.com/connor-mcgovern-potato-heir/

How deliberate mis-kicks changed one of sport’s strangest positions (BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/sport/american-football/articles/cjwd1wnl64go

Alyssa Thomas Can Barely Raise Her Arms, but She Still Dominates in the WNBA (SI)
https://www.si.com/wnba/alyssa-thomas-is-built-different-shoulder-injuries

Puma and Red Bull among 11 brands recognised for industry-leading social impact campaigns (SportsPro Media)
https://www.sportspromedia.com/sponsorship-marketing/sponsorship/puma-red-bull-social-impact-laureus-sport-for-good-index-lsfgi-november-2024/

Lions Receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown Is Working to Grow Football (GQ)
https://www.gq.com/story/amon-ra-st-brown-interview


Quick Links…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our Website

More About Us
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarbjit “Sab” Singh
sab@sportsdoinggood.com
516-287-7141
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forward this email