Aug. 4 – Aug. 17, 2019
Welcome to issue three hundred and eighteen of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Simone Biles Has Changed Gymnastics Forever (Slate)
2. Real voices stand out amid background noise of social media (Washington Times)
3. The improbable story of how little known WR Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi landed a tryout and, ultimately, a contract with the Browns (ClevelandBrowns.com)
4. Love, Death and Volleyball: The Four-Decade Run of a Trailblazing Gay Sports League (Get Pocket/Narratively)
5. Is this heaven? No, it’s MLB playing a real game in Iowa (ESPN)
6. Nike VP: The key to selling sneakers is emotion, and enhancing it with tech (The Next Web)
7. How Premier League footballers got woke (The Guardian)
8. How David Griffin Rebuilt the Pelicans and His World (SI.com)
9. Meet Rondale Moore, Purdue’s record-breaking, history-making phenom (ESPN)
10. Tatiana Suarez Will Never Submit (Bleacher Report)

10+
2019 Sports Award Finalists Honored by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2019/08/2019-sports-award-finalists-honored-by-RWJF.html
Protecting our planet: Professional clubs (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/protecting-our-planet-professional-clubs
ESPN & Aspen Institute Launch ‘Don’t Retire, Kid’ (Beyond Sport)
http://www.beyondsport.org/articles/dont-retire-kid
DNP – Mental Health (by Liz Cambage) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/liz-cambage-mental-health
Sport and SDGs case study: East Africa Cup (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/sport-and-sdgs-case-study-east-africa-cup

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.

People in Japan donated their old phones to make 5,000 Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals (Mashable)
https://mashable.com/video/tokyo-2020-medals-made-from-recycled-metals-from-old-phones/

Introduction
From the beginning, the Sports Doing Good newsletter made a point of not focusing just on great athletes. While we, thankfully, live in a global society that offers no shortage of elite athletes with amazing accomplishments, we wanted more diversity. We wanted to focus on all types of athletes, famous and not-so-famous, professionals and those just starting out. And thankfully we have been able to do that over the past seven years, including in this issue.

That being said, our first story this week involves a world-famous athlete doing some record-breaking things. Simone Biles could have retired a few years ago and would still have been considered one of the best gymnasts of all-time. However, she has kept going and the performances continue to amaze. The world will be witness to her talents next summer at the 2020 Olympic Games.

The next athlete we featured is NOT “Simone-Biles famous.” Frankly, it would not surprise anyone if he walked in FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland and was asked for ID. The athlete, WR Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi, is pursuing his dream of playing in the NFL. The challenge to be one of the almost 2,000 athletes who get to don a helmet and uniform in the NFL is huge. To stand out, you kind of have to do something special. This past week, Sheehy-Guiseppi did something special. We hope you will check out his story.

Finally, our 10th story features a young lady, Tatiana Suarez, who was on her way to being a possible Olympic champion in 2012, only to be diagnosed with cancer and forced to give up on that dream. But thankfully some of the lessons she learned as an elite athlete helped her navigate her way into a new profession, that of UFC fighter.

The other stories we are proud to feature include: an increase in social activism by today’s athletes; the athletic and historical impact of an amateur volleyball league in New York City; an upcoming MLB at the “Field of Dreams;” the emotional and tech-focused approach to selling and buying our favorite sneakers; how some Premier League footballers are finding their voice as social activists; basketball executive David Griffin and his challenges on and off the court; and a look at a not-so-famous football players who one day could be an NFL superstar, Rondale Moore.

Finally, 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.

Simone Biles Has Changed Gymnastics Forever (Slate)
https://slate.com/culture/2019/08/simone-biles-triple-double-us-championships-kansas-city.html

Real voices stand out amid background noise of social media (Washington Times)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/6/real-voices-stand-out-amid-social-media-noise/

The improbable story of how little known WR Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi landed a tryout and, ultimately, a contract with the Browns (ClevelandBrowns.com)
https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/the-improbable-story-of-how-little-known-wr-damon-sheehy-guiseppi-landed-a-tryou

Love, Death and Volleyball: The Four-Decade Run of a Trailblazing Gay Sports League (Get Pocket/Narratively)
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/love-death-and-volleyball-the-four-decade-run-of-a-trailblazing-gay-sports-league

Is this heaven? No, it’s MLB playing a real game in Iowa (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27349601/is-heaven-no-mlb-playing-real-game-iowa

Nike VP: The key to selling sneakers is emotion, and enhancing it with tech (The Next Web)
https://thenextweb.com/events/2019/08/08/nike-ron-faris-tnw2020/

How Premier League footballers got woke (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/15/how-premier-league-footballers-got-woke

How David Griffin Rebuilt the Pelicans and His World (SI.com)
https://www.si.com/nba/2019/08/01/david-griffin-pelicans-rebuild-zion-williamson-anthony-davis-trade-lebron-james-cavaliers

Meet Rondale Moore, Purdue’s record-breaking, history-making phenom (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27355502/meet-rondale-moore-purdue-record-breaking-history-making-phenom

Tatiana Suarez Will Never Submit (Bleacher Report)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2838933-after-cancer-and-a-lost-olympic-dream-tatiana-suarez-takes-aim-at-ufc-glory

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