Feb. 9 – Feb. 22, 2025
Welcome to issue four hundred and fifty-nine of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. From rooftops to remote islands, this city has basketball courts everywhere (CNN)
2. Johni Broome’s chase for greatness and ‘embodiment of the American dream’ (The Athletic)
3. Juventus FC Looks To Become Serie A’s Most Sustainable Soccer Club (Forbes)
4. UCLA star Lauren Betts relies on this 6-foot-6 scout team player to reach new heights (The Athletic)
5. ‘The greatest story in football’: How Aussie Jordan Mailata turned his rugby dreams into Super Bowl reality (CNN)
6. Jaguars DL Arik Armstead named 2024 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (NFL)
7. What Rhone And Jrue Holiday Aim To Achieve With Newfound Partnership (Forbes)
8. Life-changing reaction from deaf fans as they wear haptic shirts at St. James’ Park (Newcastle United)
9. Steve Kerr, JJ Redick provide respite as Palisades basketball team endures after fires (The Athletic)
10. What the 4 Nations Face-Off means to the Tkachuk family (ESPN)


10+
Breaking Barriers: Empowering children through inclusive sports (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/breaking-barriers-empowering-children-through-inclusive-sports
The Impact Academy: Empowering Girls & Women Through STEM, Sports & Sustainability (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2025/02/07/the-impact-academy-empowering-girls-women-through-stem-sports-sustainability/
Black Players for Change & Black Star – Removing Soccer’s Barriers to Entry (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2025/02/14/black-players-for-change-black-star-focus-on-removing-soccers-barriers-to-entry/
Historic Laureus World Sports Awards return to Madrid as sporting world celebrates 25 Years of Laureus (Laureus)
https://www.laureus.com/news/historic-laureus-world-sports-awards-return-to-madrid-as-sporting-world-celebrates-25-years-of-laureus
Future of Sports: Luka Don?i? on Future of Basketball (Aspen Institute)
https://youtu.be/diiNZqFF1Zk?si=hyC3TRBADNBCEypM


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!

‘I was just in awe’: Grant Hill on beating the 1992 Dream Team and having to keep it a secret (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/sport/grant-hill-dream-team-documentary-spt-intl/index.html
Before the Super Bowl, Saquon Barkley’s daughter leaves a voicemail for her dad. (The Players Tribune)
https://youtu.be/iDYlTP48AVA?si=RP0cTMgKh9tjvY-V
Signature Shoes of the NBA and WNBA (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/39771146/sneakerhead-guide-every-nba-wnba-signature-sneaker-history


Introduction
I am once more starting off with mention of an event I am attending this upcoming week in London on Wednesday, February 26. Hosted by Remedy (founders Rahul Bissoonauth and Luke Southall), the first annual Sport Fundraising Summit brings together a tremendous group of practitioners in the field to discuss timely issues in light of changing circumstances. Tickets are still available so I hope you will be able to join me in London on the 26th.* https://www.sportfundraising.co.uk/

*I have recently relocated to Geneva, Switzerland. I am excited to connect with the amazing community of sports industry practitioners in that city and country. Please feel free to reach out if you are there and/or can make referrals. (sab@sportsdoinggood.com)

Many stories featured at Sports Doing Good are borne from individual or societal problems/troubles/issues. People, whether alone or as a group, thankfully find the ability to overcome that which is plaguing them. And I feature such stories of resilience. One such situation that is happening at a much too frequent rate are natural disasters. As the fires in California have shown, communities can be overwhelmed to such a degree that recovery seems a battle that may not be won.

One story this week covers efforts from two NBA coaches to help student-athletes impacted by the Southern California fires. The high school basketball team is showing the aforementioned resilience, while the two coaches share their bond to the community impacted by these fires. (“Steve Kerr and JJ Redick provide respite as Palisades basketball team endures after fires,” The Athletic.)

According to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the frequency of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the United States has significantly increased, with the average number of such events per year rising considerably over the past few decades, particularly in recent years. And it does not have to be a billion-dollar disaster to wield considerable damage and heartache. For individuals and communities, their “limited” disaster is still very much a disaster.

A broader discussion around the causes and management of natural disasters is frankly for another forum, not Sports Doing Good. However, thinking about how to assist those impacted by such climate disasters is certainly worth our discussion and our efforts. Organization such as Good Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods regularly lead efforts to help communities rebuild. Yes, shelter, food, water, and health care top the list of needs. But sports facilities and equipment, used by so many in the community, deserve a targeted solution that will enable that community to find some normalcy in their recovery.

Will we see professional leagues and their partners do more, perhaps create an emergency fund, that is part of the overall effort to build up effected communities? I hope so. More dollars and more attention will make sure that that part of a community’s strength remains present and will rebound.

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.

From rooftops to remote islands, this city has basketball courts everywhere (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/12/style/hong-kong-basketball-photography-austin-bell-hnk-intl/index.html

Johni Broome’s chase for greatness and ‘embodiment of the American dream’ (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6132624/2025/02/13/johni-broome-auburn-player-of-year/

Juventus FC Looks To Become Serie A’s Most Sustainable Soccer Club (Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/vitascarosella/2025/02/12/juventus-fc-looks-to-become-serie-as-most-sustainable-soccer-club/

UCLA star Lauren Betts relies on this 6-foot-6 scout team player to reach new heights (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6131845/2025/02/13/lauren-betts-ucla-scout-team/

‘The greatest story in football’: How Aussie Jordan Mailata turned his rugby dreams into Super Bowl reality (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/sport/jordan-mailata-eagles-super-bowl-spt/index.html

Jaguars DL Arik Armstead named 2024 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (NFL)
https://www.nfl.com/news/jaguars-dl-arik-armstead-named-2024-walter-payton-nfl-man-of-the-year

What Rhone And Jrue Holiday Aim To Achieve With Newfound Partnership (Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbykrivitsk/2025/02/11/what-rhone-and-jrue-holiday-aim-to-achieve-with-newfound-partnership/

Life-changing reaction from deaf fans as they wear haptic shirts at St. James’ Park (Newcastle United)
https://www.newcastleunited.com/en/news/watch-life-changing-reaction-from-deaf-fans-as-they-wear-haptic-shirts-at-st.-james-park

Steve Kerr, JJ Redick provide respite as Palisades basketball team endures after fires (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6128748/2025/02/12/palisades-basketball-team-fires-steve-kerr-jj-redick/

What the 4 Nations Face-Off means to the Tkachuk family (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/43835594/nhl-4-nations-face-2025-team-usa-tkachuk-matthew-brady-keith-legacy


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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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