This is a smart, sensible take from Suzanne Wrack on the challenge of building sustainable fan bases in women’s football.

For Arsenal, games at the Emirates becoming the norm will naturally see some fans picking and choosing which they attend before they are fully invested in the journey of the team. And that will come as the relationship between the team and fanbase strengthens. It takes time. Arsenal are three steps ahead of the rest, but they show what is possible and demonstrate how to get there.

The Guardian

Arsenal manager’s contract extension highlights rarity of managerial stability in the Premier League.

Amy Lawrence, Arsenal correspondent for The Athletic, comments on the news that Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s football manager, has been given a three-year contract extension.

…here we are five years down the line with a new contract which will take him to 2027 and close in on a decade in charge. This is at a time when, according to UEFA’s study from a year ago, the average tenure for a manager across their top divisions is 1.3 years.

It’s hard to believe that last detail.

And Arteta’s longevity is all the more incredible when you consider that when he took on the role aged 37, he had never managed a game of football in his life.

[nytimes.com]

Why is India so bad at sport?

Tej Parikh, the Financial Times’s economics leader writer, delves into why, despite its population size and GDP, India does so poorly when it comes to sport.

…whether it is the Paralympics or Olympics, India underwhelms on the global sports stage, relative to its demographic heft. It has won just 41 medals at the Olympics since 1900. On the balance of probability alone — accounting for 1 in 6 people in the world — the nation’s recent performance is embarrassing. It amassed just six medals at the Olympics this year…

…Success at the Olympics tends to scale with GDP partly because it acts as a proxy for sport expenditure. “Capital-intensive sports — including gymnastics, sailing, swimming, rowing and diving — accounted for 28 per cent of available medals this year,” notes Green. America, China and Britain excel in many of these. “Economic development also means more leisure time and the creation of a sporting culture.”

India’s economic emergence has, however, not translated into stronger investment in sport, or more recreation. Expenditure on physical recreation has not been a priority for successive governments. As a result, wannabe athletes have faced significant hurdles in the form of poor funding and a lack of access to facilities, coaching and equipment.

Poverty remains a challenge. India’s GDP per capita by purchasing power parity is just over $10,000, according to the World Bank, placing it below the likes of Iraq and Eswatini. Parents and teachers, understandably, encourage children to pursue better paid, high-status professions as doctors and engineers.

There is, of course, one sport – cricket – that India does excel in.

[ft.com]

Pickleball ever more popular, but tennis is better for fitness.

I’ve only played pickleball once but thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s not nearly as big a deal in the UK as it is in the US, though it’s something I’d be open to playing more.

But fitness coaches say that tennis is better when it comes to fitness.

The big picture: Tennis players sprint across a wider court, swinging at heavier balls than pickleheads. The average heart rate recorded on an Apple Watch while playing pickleball was 143 beats per minute, while tennis averaged 152 beats per minute, according to a study by Apple Heart and Movement.

What gets missed is that it’s not usually decisions between pickleball and tennis that people are making; it’s between pickleball or tennis and nothing.

So, if you’re enjoying pickleball, there’s no need to feel bad!

Whether you want to stick to being a picklehead or enjoy a higher-intensity workout that is tennis, both sports are great for staying active and healthy.

(Not loving the name ‘picklehead’!)

[axios.com]