Three EASY Ways to Help Athletes Prepare for ELECTION DAY!
The athletes will have Election Day, here's how to make sure they are prepared.
Election Day is fast approaching and your athletes may or may not be prepared to vote on that day.
Your coach or administrator may have put you on assignment to ensure the team had all they to carry out their civil duty.
You may have realized you have to get your out of state athletes registered as well as the state deadlines are approaching.
Wherever you are this week is for you.
In this newsletter and the accompanying podcast episode I will help you in the following areas.
Voter Registration
Voter Education
Election Day Preparedness
Shoutout Time
I would like to take this time to thank the student-athletes who were members of the Kansas Football Social Action Committee during my time there. They are: Chris Hughes, Sam Burt, Logan Klusman, Adagio Lopeti, Kameron McQueen, Stephon Robinson, and Jelani Arnold.
I would like to thank Lauren Hawkins, who was so pivotal as a player development assistant during this time. I would also like to thank George Midgett, who worked with us on initiatives and crushed it providing voting resources for all athletes. I would like to thank the two creatives who made a lot of what you see possible Ashley McCaffery and Kevin Berg.
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Voter Registration
Let me start off by saying you do not have to be the expert here.
There are tons of resources, you just have to creatively get them in the hands and screens of your athletes.
Below are ways we did so:
Registration Flyer
This the card I was talking about in the podcast if you listened. These were passed out to all athletes.
Registration Table
Hey Lauren! Lauren set up a registration table on National Voter Registration Day. We signed up more than 45 student-athletes and 13 coaches.
Registration Video
This was a video we published on National Voter Registration Day. Those featured in the video were on our Social Action Committee.
Registration Cards
Lauren took those flyers you just saw and personally packed them for all of our athletes.
Campus Posters
Here is Logan Klusman and Sam Burt hanging flyers around campus preparing students for National Voter Registration Day.
Voter Education
Shoutout to the Social Action Player Committee I created at Kansas, these athletes really took this to new levels.
After we got players registered, they informed me their teammates didn’t know what to do at a voting booth.
So we broke it down, created a Voting 101 graphic, and got sample ballots to help our guys out. Sample ballots can be found on Google.
After we got them the sample ballots the players said well who are these people and these positions. So we went and got that information for them as well.
There are many unbiased websites which provide that needed information.
Election Day Preparedness
The NCAA gave Election Day of to student-athletes beginning in 2020.
This was a game changer, as athletes now would be able to actively vote, volunteer, and be fully engaged on this day.
We eliminated any confusion by providing maps for the players for polling locations on campus. We also had links to other polling locations in the counties or surrounding areas for local players.
George Midgett did a great job of creating voting initiatives and education for all athletes at the University of Kansas. Here is a picture of athletes who voted and volunteered.
George was huge in making a lot happen. I enjoyed working hand in hand with him, Lauren Hawkins, and Ashley McCaffery.
You have to make sure the coaching and support staff have things in place for this. They know it but it can sneak up on them.
Election Day can seem overwhelming, but there’s a lot of professionals and resources out there that can help you.
Register them. Education them. Encourage them to vote.
Listen to more here as I breakdown these pictures you see:
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