SportSmart

Sports are all around us. Whether its youth soccer on the streets of Nairobi or big league baseball in New York, sports have touched the lives of humans for thousands of years starting in China in 4000bc to today at the Olympic games, the pinnacle of human spirit and achievement. Sports can cater to the elite yet appeal to the masses at the same time. They force us to passionately choose sides while at the same time bringing us all together to celebrate humanity in many ways.

Writer Fran Libowitz once said, "What is truly chilling about sports is that there are a lot of smart people interested in sports. That just gives you no hope at all for the human race." Well Fran, we here at TSS couldn't disagree with you more. We think it may just be things like sports that give us hope for the human race. When Soccer teams around the world raise money and awareness for UNICEF and basebaball players start foundations to help solve cancer, we can't help but be inspired. And when our favorite underdog team wins, well, the world seems to become a better place for everyone. With major sports teams around the world connecting more with their communities, promoting education, going green, and donating money to a plethora of causes, we here at TSS really do have hope for the future and the role sports will play in that future.

That being said, we feel that sports is a obvious way to increase interest, literacy, and involvement in science, design, and culture. What shape does a soccer ball take when it's kicked? Who designed the football? Just how did the Jamaican bobsled team come to be? How fast can a racecar take a turn? Why does the winner of the Tour de France wear a yellow jersey? Where was polo first played? These are all just a few subjects that science, design, and culture can help answer.

TSS has plans to connect with sports in many ways such as working with student athletes to connect their passion for sports to their academic interests, partnering with major sports teams to spark interest in science, design, and culture in their fans, highlighting professionnal athletes that have backgrounds in science design, and culture to serve as role-models, and working with sports teams and vendors to make their operations more sustainble.

Stay tuned for updates on SportSmart...let the games begin!

In the mean time, here are a few links to get you thinking:
National Geographic's Fight Science
Fox Sports News' Sport Science
The Science House's 'The Science of Sports'

If you'd like to get involved or find out more about our SportSmart programs just call or email TSS to get more information.