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MLS to become TOCA shareholder and establish presence in all 28 TOCASoccer Centers and new TOCA Social Centers across the U.S. and Canada

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --TOCA Football (TOCA), the world's leading tech-enabled soccer experience company and largest operator of indoor training centers in North America, today announced a historic 10-year partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS) aimed at growing the sport and developing future players in North America. As part of this groundbreaking deal, MLS will become a TOCA shareholder. TOCA currently has 28 centers in North America and will grow significantly over the next ten years.

Kicking off in 2023, TOCA, as an official training and entertainment facility partner of MLS, will integrate MLS content in all of its soccer training centers and host various activities in TOCA Soccer venues and at MLS team stadium events in the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, TOCA and MLS will jointly develop training curricula that leverages TOCA's proprietary technologies including its data-capture and analytics. TOCA and MLS will also develop branded games for TOCA Social, the world's first interactive soccer entertainment and dining venue.

The long-term agreement with TOCA is the latest initiative of MLS Emerging Ventures, which creates strategic partnerships to deliver the next generation of fan experiences, player development and technology adoption for MLS, NEXT PRO, Leagues Cup and Soccer United Marketing. MLS Emerging Ventures also has investments in Sorare, Fanatics and SeatGeek.

"Major League Soccer is excited to partner with TOCA to accelerate the growth of soccer in North America ahead of the 2026 World Cup," said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. "This progressive partnership with TOCA is another important step for our league and sport, and we look forward to collaborating with them for many years to come."

"TOCA is thrilled to welcome MLS as its shareholder and strategic partner. We look forward to being in every MLS market with our growing footprint of TOCA Soccer training centers and TOCA Social entertainment venues that offer fun, authentic soccer experiences regardless of skill level," TOCA Co-Chairman Erik Anderson said.

Added TOCA CEO Yoshi Maruyama, "This historic partnership will serve as a foundation for the long-term growth and continued development of soccer in North America, and is a reflection of MLS and TOCA's commitment to investing in the sport's expansion leading up to the 2026 World Cup in the United States. TOCA's mission is to inspire everyone to play the beautiful game and we are delighted to be an integral and indispensable part of global soccer."

TOCA was founded in 2016 by two-time U.S. World Cup and former MLS and English Premier League midfielder, Eddie Lewis. TOCA is led by a world-class management team and its Board of Directors is comprised of transformative leaders from the sports industry including Erik Anderson, former Executive Chairman and CEO of Topgolf Entertainment Group; Abby Wambach, US Women's National Champion; Celeste Burgoyne, lululemon President Americas; and Julie Haddon, NWSL Chief Marketing Officer.

ABOUT MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

Headquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer -- celebrating its 27thseason in 2022 -- features 29 clubs throughout the United States and Canada, including 2022 expansion team Charlotte FC and St. Louis CITY SC, which debuts in 2023. Starting in 2023, the Apple TV app will be the exclusive destination to watch every single live MLS match. For more information about MLS, visitwww.MLSsoccer.com.

ABOUT TOCA FOOTBALL, INC

TOCA Football, Inc. is the world's leading technology-enabled soccer experience company, transforming the soccer experience and building communities that inspire everybody to play. The company operates two distinct businesses: TOCA Soccer, a growing network of innovative soccer training centers for players of all skill levels, and TOCA Social, the world's first soccer-themed entertainment and dining venue. For more information please visit TOCAfootball.com or follow @tocafootball on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. For more information on TOCA Social, please visit toca.social or follow @tocasocial on Instagram.

Media Contacts Angela Alfano / [emailprotected] Jack Buttacavoli / [emailprotected]

SOURCE Major League Soccer

Link:
TOCA Football and MLS Announce Groundbreaking Partnership to Accelerate the Growth of Soccer Interest in North America - PR Newswire

Oct 18, 2022

Greg WyshynskiESPN

NEW YORK -- The NHL released its first-ever comprehensive diversity and inclusion report at its board of governors meeting on Tuesday, highlighting efforts to promote social change while offering a snapshot of its demographic challenges.

The 24-page report, titled "Accelerating Diversity & Inclusion," details the last two years of work by the NHL's Executive Inclusion Council and three subcommittees, which were created to examine and take action on diversity issues facing players, fans and hockey at all levels.

"We are working to better understand and accelerate our engagement across all layers of diversity -- including nationality, race, gender identify, sexual orientation, disability and religion," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in the report. "Each day, we are committed to ensuring inclusion becomes more of 'who we are' than 'what we do.'"

Much of the report focuses on hiring practices around the NHL that were evaluated through a focused workplace demographic study.

There have been positive steps, according to the report. The league partnered with Jopwell, a diversity hiring startup, to expand its talent pool and hired a full-time director of recruiting in late 2021 with a focus on attracting more diverse talent. The NHL coaches association created mentoring programs for women and BIPOC candidates, while the AHL's 2021-22 roster of on-ice officials includes 10 women. Five women are now assistant general managers in the NHL, and San Jose's Mike Grier became the first Black GM in league history.

"This is a good start, but nobody is taking a victory lap," said Kim Davis, the NHL's executive vice president of social impact, growth and legislative affairs. "We did this because we wanted to put a stake in the ground. Being transparent and being held accountable isn't as scary as it may have felt three years ago. I hope that [the governors] see that their leadership matters. Going back to talk to their C-suite executives about this has made a difference."

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But there are still large demographic inequities in the NHL. According to the report, 83.6% of employees across the NHL and its teams are white, 4.17% Asian, 3.74% Black, 3.71% Hispanic/Latino and 0.5% Indigenous, while 2.48% of employees opted not to answer. The report also found that 65.44% of interns and fellowships in the NHL are white, while 69.6% of human resources departments are white.

The report found that 61.86% of workers around the NHL identify as men, with 36.81% identifying as women. Those numbers change dramatically when it comes to employees in marketing, branding and content, as 52.72% identify as male and 46.2% identify as female.

Four in 10 NHL fans in the U.S. are female, according to research cited in the report.

According to the report, 93.14% of the NHL's workforce identifies as straight or heterosexual, 1.52% as bisexual, 1.12% as gay and 0.81% as lesbian.

Davis said there's work to be done to make the NHL more appealing to applicants from underrepresented groups.

"When you're talking about employment of underrepresented audiences, [people are] like 'OK, we're woke and we're going to go and hire folks.' The question is how those markets see you? How do they experience your brand?" said Davis. "There's marketing work to do with these under-indexed populations. It's like, 'I know I can get there, but can I survive and thrive?'"

Part of that marketing is a new "Fan Code of Conduct" that was developed with Sports Innovation Lab, a sports marketing firm cofounded by Hockey Hall of Famer Angela Ruggiero. Its aim is to create a welcoming environment for all fans, covering such aspects as security and fostering a better experience for people with health conditions or impairments.

"If people heard about a poor reception inside the stadium, they probably aren't going to want to work for us, right?" Davis said. "Everything relates to everything else."

The code of conduct was one of two major recommendations developed by the NHL's Fan Inclusion Committee. The other was a "pod" structure that will bring together the NHL, its teams and underrepresented audiences and experts to learn the best way to build authentic relationships with those communities. The first Club Marketing Pod, centered on the South Asian community, began meeting in June.

The report focuses on seven "dimensions" that tie the NHL's diversity efforts together: leadership, education, employment, marketing, partnerships, participation and community engagement.

Davis said education has been the NHL's strongest area of growth. The league launched a significant portion of its third-party education work during the COVID-19 pandemic, when revenues were down and staff were remote. But Davis said the NHL spent over $500,000 to facilitate Zoom-based "intensive learning" for all league employees.

"There's an old saying that 'if you know better, you do better.' When you give that kind of focus to this kind of work, it helps people get comfortable with what's often uncomfortable. And it's uncomfortable because it's not something that they've experienced," said Davis. "Some people are embarrassed to say that. I think the last two years, in the wake of George Floyd's murder, have allowed all of us to become more open and vulnerable about the things that we don't know, and that's certainly accelerated our work."

The death of Floyd, a Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody in May 2020 became a catalyst for a racial and social justice movement that swept through the sports world. NHL teams and players made public statements addressing racial injustice and issued calls for action following Floyd's murder.

Since then, the league as a whole has faced criticism for not being as vocal or active on racial issues in the public sphere. Davis believes the momentum from that moment continues behind the scenes. She points to the NHL's player inclusion committee as one example.

"They've made some specific recommendations that go beyond the locker room training about how they want to engage as players," she said. "When you have a movement of this kind, not everything is going to be public. It shouldn't be. There's a lot of work that has to happen behind the scenes."

For example, Davis said there's been communication with teams regarding how they approach law enforcement appreciation nights, with respect to how some of their fans might view them.

"I think this is, for so many of us, a blind spot around how one part of the community can admire the group and another can fear the group, and the two can both be true according to their vantage point," said Davis. "As we've talked to clubs about this, they have listened and many of them have learned to do better. It's a complicated [issue], but people are open to hearing and understanding how perceptions can be reality for those who we're trying to make comfortable and feel welcome in our sport."

There's more work to be done behind the scenes. The report states that 27 NHL teams have established, or are about to establish, D&I councils or working groups, up by four teams since Davis's group was formed. Davis said some teams that haven't established them are working through pandemic-related staffing challenges. Only 14 teams have employed a professional whose job function is dedicated to D&I. Davis said that some team owners have those professionals in other facets of their corporate structure, while other teams are still learning what kind of individual to seek out to fill that role.

The report noted some future initiatives, including a relaunch of the "Hockey Is For Everyone" campaign by the NHL and NHLPA into a broader coalition of partners "who use the sport as a force for empowerment and inclusion." There will be further expansion of the NHL Street ball hockey program. The league also plans to administer another workforce demographic study to evaluate progress made in diversity hiring practices.

Read more:
NHL's first diversity and inclusion report finds workforce 84% white - ESPN

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DKT International, one of the worlds largest providers of family planning, HIV/AIDS, and safe abortion products and services, is proud to continue its support of World Vasectomy Day (WVD). This year the organization marks its 10th anniversary, with events around the globe throughout November in recognition of this milestone.

World Vasectomy Day is more than just a day; its an important movement to encourage and educate people globally about an often-overlooked form of family planning, and that is encouraging men to share in reproductive responsibilities and become an active part of the conversation, says Chris Purdy, CEO of DKT International.

Demonstrating WVDs commitment to being the largest male-focused family planning movement in history, more than 1,000 participating medical personnel from 30+ countries will provide 15,000 vasectomies in the U.S. and globally throughout the month.

Each year since 2013, WVD has brought its headquarters to a different country. Mexico has been chosen as the 2022 partner because of its unparalleled commitment to this movement. Through an agreement with the Mexican Ministry of Health (MoH), 400 doctors will mobilize to perform 10,000 vasectomies in all 32 Mexican states. The MoHs mobile vasectomy clinic will also be placed at the border of Mexico and Texas, where they will offer free vasectomies for migrants heading north and Americans seeking free services coming south.

Additionally, vasectomies will be provided by mobile clinics in the American Midwest. Planned Parenthood in Missouri will host WVD for a portion of the Midwestern Road trip, when WVDs Medical Advisory Board member, Dr. Esgar Guarin will take his 24-foot mobile trailer throughout Iowa and Missouri and perform 100 free vasectomies. The mobile clinic will be in Missouri from November 2-5 and in Iowa from November 14-18.

WVD will host vasectomy clinics via specially planned events in the Philippines. DKTs offices around the world will also be supporting the occasion with their events focused on the need for men to shoulder some of the responsibility for family planning.

WVD events throughout November include:

WVD will be in Thailand from November 14-17 during the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) alongside DKT International. WVD events at ICFP include:

We thank DKT for its continuous support in growing the World Vasectomy Day movement, adds Jonathan Stack, co-founder of WVD. Our mission for 10 years is to encourage more males to take on a greater role in family planning.

Anyone seeking information about vasectomies, counseling on vasectomy procedures, or who would like to receive a vasectomy is encouraged to attend WVD activities. Virtual attendance is available for those who cannot attend in person.

For more information, please visit https://wvd.org/

DKT International Since 1989, DKT International provides safe and affordable options for family planning and HIV prevention through social marketing in 90 underserved countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In 2021, DKT generated 54.2 million Couple Years of Protection (CYPs) through the sale of more than 901 million condoms, 111 million cycles of oral contraceptives, 20 million emergency contraceptives, 19 million injectables, 1.9 million implants, 4.7 million IUDs, 5 million medical abortion (MA) combipacks, and 300,000 manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) kits.

World Vasectomy Day World Vasectomy Day is a registered nonprofit organization. Founded in 2013, WVD is the largest male-focused sexual and reproductive health movement, committed to encouraging and educating the population on the positive inclusion of men in family planning and reproductive health.

Continue reading here:
World Vasectomy Day and DKT International Celebrate 10 Years Inspiring Men to Shoulder Responsibility for Family Planning - Business Wire

In an almost beat-for-beat repeat of the discourse surrounding the self-perpetuated-but-ultimately-false hopes of the LGBTQ community that Splatoon 3s Shiver was non-binary, various Nintendo sources have deconfirmed recent speculation that newly revealed Pokmon Scarlet & Violet Gym Leader Iono is a non-binary and transgender character.

Source: Guess Ionos Pokmon Partner? Pokmon Youtube

RELATED: Pokmon Presents Showcase Reveals New Information For Pokmon Scarlet & Violet: New Pokmon, Paldean Wooper, Type-Changing Terastal Phenomenon, And More

Revealed to the world on October 12th via the official Pokmon YouTube channel, Iono is the pint-sized Electric-type gym leader of the Paldea regions Levincia city.

When not testing the mettle of challenging trainers, the blue-and-pink-haired, oversized-yellow-sweater-clad Iono spends her free time serving as the titular internet personality behind the Iono Zone livestream.

Shortly after Ionos reveal, taking notice of both her color pallet and the lack of pronouns in her introductory tweet from the official Pokmon Twitter account, the founder of popular Pokmon fansite Bulbagarden Liam Pomfret posited the possibility that the Electric-type trainer could identify as non-binary and transgender.

Worth noting that, alongside being a bokukko (i.e. feminine presenting while using the masculine pronoun boku) stated one of, if not the most prominent proponents of the idea. The colours of Ionos hair and Magnemite hair accessories appear to evoke the transgender flag.

Source: Liam Pomfret, PhD Twitter

RELATED: Pokmon Scarlet & Violet Alleged Leaks Round-Up: Over 120 New Pokmon, Only Two New Regional Forms, A Bike Pokmon, And More

Interestingly, Ionos names in the different languages are basically all a bunch of references to concepts related to questions and mystery, he continued. I havent checked all languages yet, but Im also seeing a lack of gendered language in how the official accounts introduced them as well.

Source: Liam Pomfret, PhD Twitter

Ultimately, Pomfret closed his speculation with the acknowledgement that it appears the Spanish language account did use explicitly feminine language (la influencer).

Mind you, Im given to understand Spanish doesnt really have gender neutral terms, and it seems like itd be difficult to phrase this without any gendered terms, he concluded, so *shrugs*.

Source: Liam Pomfret, PhD Twitter

RELATED: Pokmon Scarlet & Violet Alleged Leaks Round-Up: Trainer Customization, Ancient Forms Outright New Pokmon, No Fishing, And More

Unfortunately for Pomreft, his theory would have the lights turned off on it less than twenty-four hours after he put it forward when an update to the official English Pokmon website confirmed that Iono did not identify as a non-binary and transgender individual, but rather a girl who uses feminine pronouns.

Smash That Like Button for Iono, the Supercharged Streamer, read an official piece of marketing copy shared by Nintendo. Get amped up to meet this electrifying Gym Leader in Pokmon Scarlet and Pokmon Violet but who is her partner Pokmon?

Source: Source: Ionos Pokmon Scarlet/Violet Character Announcement

Ionos female gender was further confirmed on October 13th with the official Japanese Pokmon Twitter accounts announcement of a subsequent trailer introducing her aforementioned partner Pokmon, the ElecFrog newcomer Bellibolt.

Nanjamo [Iono in English], a gym leader in the Paldea region and a popular video distributor, introduced her partner Pokmon Harabar (Bellibolt) on Donnamonja TV (Iono Zones Japanese Counterpart)! wrote the account (via DeepL). Were everyones predictions correct?

Source: Pokemon Japan Twitter

Likewise, in their respective sharing of the trailer, the official North American, UK, Spanish, German, Italian Twitter accounts similarly used feminine pronouns in reference to the electrifying internet personality.

The Levincia Gym leaders feminine identity was also explicitly confirmed in her character profile, as published on the official Pokmon website.

RELATED: Pokmon World Champion Concerned Over The Addition Of New Type-Changing Mechanic In The Upcoming Pokmon Scarlet & Violet

Iono is the Gym Leader of Levincia, one of the Paldea regions prominent cities, specializing in Electric-type Pokmon, reads said profile. Shes also known as the Supercharged Streamer, having gained popularity as the host of the Iono Zone.

She even streams her work as a Gym Leader and seems to place great emphasis on viewer engagement on her channel and the number of views she gets. it adds. Her catchphrases include: Your eyeballs are MINEcaught in my Electroweb! and Ello, ello, hola! Ciao and Bonjour!

Source: Iono Pokmon Scarlet/Violet Character Profile

Pokmon Scarlet and Violet hit shelves exactly one month from today on November 18th, 2022.

Source: Meet Bellibolt | Pokmon Scarlet and Pokmon Violet, The Official Pokmon YouTube channel

NEXT: Pokmon Scarlet & Violet Trailer Reveal New Pokmon, Box Legendaries, World Exploring Multiplayer, and Release Date

More:
'Pokmon Scarlet & Violet' Official Sources Refute Social Media Speculation That New Gym Leader Iono Is Non-Binary And Transgender - Bounding Into...

Taliban sources tell Al Jazeera that US officials assured them during a meeting in Doha.

Doha, Qatar The United States has assured Afghanistans Taliban rulers that Washington will not fund any armed groups or non-state actors in the country, Taliban sources have told Al Jazeera.

The assurances were welcomed by the Taliban as Tajik armed groups, which have been backed by the West in the past, continue to challenge the groups leadership even as it has managed to contain the Tajik-dominated National Resistance Front and other groups aligned with the former Western-backed government since it returned to power in August last year.

The assurances were given during a meeting between US Department of State officials and Taliban representatives in Doha earlier this month.

While few details about the meeting in the Qatari capital are available, Taliban sources told Al Jazeera its members met with members of a high level US delegation, including CIA deputy director.

This meeting was the first since July when the US said it killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone attack on his hiding place in Afghanistans capital, Kabul.

Al-Zawahiris presence in Afghanistan led the West to accuse the Taliban of violating the 2020 Doha Agreement, in which the Afghan group agreed not to provide safe haven to al-Qaeda and other armed groups.

The Taliban swept into power last year in a lightning offensive but violence by armed groups such as ISIL affiliate ISKP has surged in recent months, posing a security challenge to the group.

In the meeting, the Taliban also conveyed its rejection of the US announcement that it would transfer $3.5bn in frozen Afghan central bank assets into a Swiss-based trust, according to the Taliban sources, who have knowledge about the meetings.

Last month, the Taliban said the US decision to put part of nearly $10bn in Afghan assets which it froze last August in an attempt to keep the Taliban from accessing it into trust was unacceptable and a violation of international norms.

The US announcement had said the fund will be managed by an international board of trustees and used for debt payments, electricity, food, printing new currency and other essential needs and services.

The Afghan group has repeatedly called for the lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen funds, including international aid that was suspended after the Taliban takeover, to help its dying economy. Sanctions that had been placed on the Taliban during their first period of rule that ended in 2001 came back into force with them taking power last year.

More than half of Afghanistans 39 million people need humanitarian help and six million are at risk of famine, the United Nations said in August.

No country has recognised the Talibans self-styled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and its diplomatic and financial isolation has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the country, which has suffered from decades of war, including the last 20 years under US occupation.

The international community has urged the Taliban to respect human rights, including allowing girls access to schools and workplaces. But the group has put in place increasing curbs on human rights, further angering the international community and dashing any hopes of recognition.

However, the revelations about the Doha meeting show the US continues to engage with the Taliban despite the rift.

A state department spokesperson confirmed the Doha meetings to Al Jazeera.

As weve made clear, well continue to engage the Taliban pragmatically regarding American interests, she told Al Jazeera.

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US will not fund non-state actors in Afghanistan: Taliban sources