Sporting Insights’ Post

Weather plays as significant a role in golf economics in equatorial and temperate climates as in Northern and Southern Hemispheres that have severe winters. There is no shut down period in SE Asia with courses open 365 days a year. Lightning activity in countries like Singapore and Malaysia, deprive courses of a large number of rounds year around. The monsoon and typhoon seasons across SE Asia have an impact on the golf course which no amount of drainage can moderate and also take a significant number of rounds off the books for golf courses. There are reports of summer heat, already high in the region, increasing in recent years and now having an impact on the tolerance of even the most hardy heat tolerant local golfer. Tracking the economic impact of weather is vital and with the Climate Change modifying weather patterns and seasons, it is key for the industry. Sporting Insights has been tracking rounds on a quarterly basis in Great Britain for 5 years. The release of this information is eagerly awaited and has proven vital for the industry to communicate and plan forward. The Sporting Insights Rounds Monitor is easy to implement and can have a major impact on the ability of golf clubs in an area, a region or nationwide to see how they are performing vis a vis their peers and how external factors such as the weather are impacting their clubs and the industry. Please contact me at eric.lynge@sportinginsights.com for more information on how we can assist.

So there is a lot of rhetoric about Dr Rachael Gunn (RayGun) who competed for Australia in breaking at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Some people are questioning whether she was a worthy choice to represent Australia... For those who haven't seen it, you can catch some of her dancing here: https://lnkd.in/gZ3CKZXg Knowing nothing about breaking...it's easy to look at snippets of the dance, or photos, snort derisively and pass judgement on a sport that I have never attended, rules I do not know, and scoring system that is a mystery to me (and apparently some competitors!). But I stopped myself and started to do some research. Here is what I learnt: 1. There is controversy about the inclusion of breaking in the Olympics. Apparently the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), originally lobbied to have ballroom dancing included in the Olympics before realising it had limited appeal for GenZ, and pivoted to breaking - without telling the breaking community. No wonder there was a lack of maturity in pathways to Olympic qualification. 2. The Australian breaking community did not have a national recognised federation, and so when WDSF ran the Oceania Breaking Championships in Sydney in Oct '23 (a direct route to the Olympics) , there were only 52 competitors (37 B-Boys and 15 B-Girls). 3. An alternate route to the Olympics was via the Olympic Qualifier Series, but 6 Australian competitors did not place, and the three women finished 37th, 38th and 40th in a 40 person field. So when the armchair judges and keyboard warriors question RayGun's worth, and whether she has earned her place, I'd like to remind them that they are likely the same people who were in the cheering crowd when Eric "the Eel" swam in the Sydney 2000 Olympics...his lack of competence at the Olympic level was clearly apparent, when his time was over a minute slower than the world record for a 100m freestyle race. But we, as the host country, celebrated the story of Eric from Equatorial Guinea, as a story of hardships overcome, a story of grit despite the requisite skill or pedigree... My question is, why is it so embarrassing that one of our athletes failed to score? She competed for her country, just like Eric. Have we become so obsessed with winning that we forget that we are a country built on overcoming adversity, sometimes failing but always doing it with a sense of mateship? Perhaps it's racism? I mean it's okay for an athlete from a poor African nation to be congratulated for turning up - but we are better than that? Perhaps it's misogyny? If RayGun was a man, perhaps the public discourse would have been different? Or maybe it's garden variety ageism? Let's stop this dissection of an Aussie athlete, and instead thank her for a courageous performance and graceful weathering of the tirade from those who wouldn't be capable of pulling her routine off.

Harry Brook New Record: Second-Fastest Triple Ton in Tests #news #sports #sportsnews #HarryBrook #TestSeries #PakistanvsEngland #harrybrooknews #harrybrookbatting #harrybrooktriplecentury #harrybrookcentury #harrybrookbattingvspak #harrybrooknewrecord #harrybrooklatestnews #harrybrookwicket #videos #cricket #cricketnews

How to watch the 2024 Six Nations online for free

How to watch the 2024 Six Nations online for free

How to watch the 2024 Six Nations online for free

How to watch the 2024 Six Nations online for free

Looking forward to our panel discussion on April 10 in Edina, MN around why more investors are turning to active fixed income ETFs in their portfolios. RSVP by email to troy_page@ssga.com #active #fixedincome #interestrates #bonds #investing #markets #etfs #transparency #liquidity #efficiency

How to watch the 2024 Six Nations online for free

This is an important development the checks and balances of these sports for navigating and applying the National Integrity Framework. https://lnkd.in/gRv4weVw