After volunteering at Houston Hall with her PLTV crew, Ford planned to vote at her polling place, Walnut Street West Free Library, with her Penn Women’s Volleyball co-captains. And in the name of the “All Vote, No Play” movement, Ford and her volleyball teammates were setting up a different Get out the Vote table—handing out free pizza—with other Penn athletes outside of The ARCH building on Locust Walk.

“Student athletes are regarded as leaders on campus, and they have an opportunity to be an influence here,” Ford said. “So it’s important we are exemplars in civic engagement.”

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Election Day is not a game day for the Rutgers men’s basketball team, but some of its players plan on racking up assists anyway.

At the ballot box, that is.

Five Scarlet Knights will be setting up shop at the Livingston Student Center at certain points Tuesday, encouraging fellow students to vote. This is a multi-college initiative that includes members of the men’s basketball teams at Rutgers, Notre Dame, Penn State, Oklahoma and a few other schools. It’s a prime example of a constructive use of NIL – the players are being paid a name/image/likeness fee for this civic service.

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One of the athletes that is getting in on the action is UCLA backup quarterback Chase Griffin. He has already established himself as one of the leading voices in this new era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights being granted to college athletes so that they can have paid endorsements. Over the last year, Griffin has been racketing up various endorsement deals including with Shell, Boost Mobile, Degree, UniWorld, DUFFL, and Clearcover and Discord. He has also created his own brand company Be11eve Brand.

“My advice will be to focus on the positive and not on the negative,” he said. “Instead of not voting despite historical transgressions, celebrate the warriors and freedom fighters who gave their lives for the right to vote.”

The work of All Vote No Play is unlike anything that has been seen in history. It meets the moment and is here to stay. Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, the days of student athletes sticking to sports are gone. It is no longer just about winning for your team, it is about winning for democracy.

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The 2022 midterm elections will take place Tuesday and athletes from nine Division I schools will support the voting initiative All Vote No Play by volunteering on Election Day.

On Election Day, the athletes will distribute coffee and donuts to voters. They will also share All Vote No Play graphics on social media.

“Student-athletes have a tremendous platform in their communities to drive awareness of important issues,” Bryant men’s basketball coach Jared Grasso said in a statement. “That’s why it’s great to see our athletes not only performing their civic duty to vote, but also leveraging NIL to incentivize others who look up to them to engage in the same.”

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The All Vote No Play leaders have been encouraged about the increased engagement among athletes and young people in general. For instance, a Tufts University study estimates that 50% of people between 18 and 29 years old voted in the 2020 Presidential election, a 11 percentage point increase from 2020.

Still, Kennedy sees much more room for growth and uses a sports analogy to state his care, comparing the percentage voter turnout to free throw shooting. He plans on doing that through more outreach to coaches, administrators and players, an emphasis on fundraising and just having more time to devote to a cause that’s become a passion for him.

“We’re nowhere near where we should be,” Kennedy said. “I want to get these young people to be shooting the ball like Steph Curry, where they’re shooting 92% from the foul line. They should be voting at 92% as a voting bloc….We want to be the leading organization in the country that’s really making a difference with young voters.”

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"Two years after All Vote No Play’s launch, the movement has turned into a robust organization geared at boosting civic participation with student athletes at its helm.

To learn more, I chatted with Elizabeth Ford, captain of University of Pennsylvania’s women’s volleyball team who is 22-years-old and grew up in Glenview, Illinois, and Sam Beskind, former co-captain of the Stanford men’s basketball team who’s now playing his fifth year of NCAA eligibility at Colorado School of Mines. Beskind, who is also 22, grew up in Tucson, Arizona."

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"Together, ALL IN and All Vote No Play continue to work at the forefront of this national culture change. We’re piloting new programs, partnerships, and alliances across the landscape of sports, civics, and social change to encourage the natural growth of athletes from campus role models to civic role models. We know that athletics as a discipline naturally contains the seeds of what good citizenship looks like: a disposition to work with others, an inclination to practice the skills that lead to desired outcomes, and a foundation based in showing up and putting in the work, even on the hardest days.

Now, as we see mounting evidence of growing momentum in both collegiate and professional sports to use the platform of athletics for civic engagement, we’re issuing a joint call for a firm commitment from all college teams to get in the game and lead by example this Election season."

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Nearly 2,000 people – including about 900 student-athletes from 25 colleges across 17 states – dug into 250 pizzas while getting words of advice and support from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, legendary Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer and, of course, Curry.

“That little bit of action matters. There’s always a trickle-down effect, across the board. Whether you realize it in the moment or not, it all matters.”

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“It's possible, no matter who you are, how old you are, or how much experience you have to still be a part of something big and create change.” Ryan Belk, Yale Football Tight End, Parkland Survivor, Engaged Athlete.

For the last couple of years, All Vote No Play has been on a mission to ignite a new generation of change makers, like Ryan, and thousands of others around the country, to embrace their power and passion to create positive change.

“I know personally it can be a little intimidating. I used to think: I haven't done anything in the past. I'm not really used to this. I don't know how to get involved. This kind of looks cool, but am I passionate enough?”

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On September 13, iCivics will host a special event with All Vote No Play featuring athletic leaders who will discuss the motivation and choices behind their work and collective impact.

To make civics experiential, relevant, and meaningful to all learners and students, we invite your classrooms to participate and learn about creating and nourishing civic values, civic cultures, and civic communities. Consider assigning this event as homework to your civics, government, or social studies classes and inviting further reflection, inquiry, and conversation

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Amid the daily onslaught of notifications and news updates that make us feel anxious, depleted and even hopeless about our democracy, how can we imagine voting (and broader civic engagement) as something that people feel good about and want to participate in?

Lisa Kay Solomon is a Stanford professor, designer, and futurist working on several projects aimed at encouraging people to vote. While people do need what Kay Solomon calls “useful tools” (ie. clear instructions, functional technology) to engage, they also need to feel good about participating.

Her work looks at the question of: “How can we meet voters where they are and talk to them not through the lens of guilt and shame, but possibility?”

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In this episode, Amira Rose Davis interviews Victoria Jackson, sports historian and Clinical Assistant Professor of History in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. They discuss the struggle for power in the NIL system, the college football money machine, the mental health crisis in higher education and how the overturning of Roe vs. Wade will impact collegiate athletes.

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On Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. PT, AVNP will be hosting the Engaged Athlete All-Star Meeting, a virtual event aimed at inspiring student-athletes to rethink their civic engagement through the lens of leadership.

“Being an ‘Engaged Athlete’ does not mean you have to single-handedly save the world; in fact, it is quite the opposite,” Beskind said. “We want to show that anyone, regardless of their sport, gender, seniority, political ideology, or any other label, can make a difference in their corner of the world.”

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There has been a long history of athletes using their power to create more inclusive, just and sustainable civic futures in our nation. Perhaps the most influential was Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in Major League Baseball, who used his stature to advance civil rights throughout his career.

And now it’s not just players but leagues that continue the tradition.

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"Not only will the NBA not play on Election Day but over the next few months NBA teams will provide information on their state's voting process and voter registration deadlines in order to help fans make a plan to vote."

"The WNBA and NBA aren’t alone as more and more athletes are using their collective voice to strengthen our democracy. All Vote No Play is a movement to help student athletes become great teammates and citizens, and to show them how they can exercise their own power to create the future they want."

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"The National Basketball Association said Tuesday that it would not schedule any games on Election Day, Nov. 8, in an effort to encourage fans, players and officials to vote.

All 30 teams will play the night before the election as part of what the league is calling a “civic engagement night.""

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Lisa Kay Solomon interviews professional volleyball player and member of the Athletes Unlimited leadership equity committee, Cassidy Lichtman, on their decision to play in Dallas, Texas after the state had passed some new legislation antithetical to Athletes Unlimited’s values and priorities.

Instead of boycotting, the team transformed the Dallas arena into a welcoming voter registration hub with Vote.org, they created vibrant murals that celebrated civic rights heroes and activists, they sold LGBTQIA+ books and merchandise in their shop, and raised money for causes the athletes cared about.

“Instead of showing up in protest, we decided to create a celebration of our values and everything the league stands for...We amplified the Power of our Voice.”

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"What if athletic conferences prioritized positioning themselves to have the highest average voter turnout and voter registration rates instead of the largest media markets?”

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Athletics directors are working tirelessly to meet student-athletes where they are in terms of helping them meaningfully contribute to their communities and giving them the ability to cast an informed ballot in all elections.

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Learn how Stanford student athletes are flexing their civic leadership and civic pride.

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Ted Lasso's rapid ascent and positive infusion into our cultural zeitgeist solidified something I already knew: That coaches are an often unsung force for good, and we ought to be doing more to recognize their unique power and influence in positively shaping lives...

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Get inspired by the voices of college athletes across the country who are preparing to make November 2nd a day ON for civic engagement.

Three strategies that student athletes can use to ensure Election Day is a day for civics and citizenship with #AllVoteNoPlay.

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On Monday, Stanford University Athletics officials announced participation plans for the upcoming Nov. 2 day of civic engagement. Cardinal athletic programs are aiming for full participation in the #AllVoteNoPlay Day...

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Students from across the Pac12 network are voicing their values through this powerful message on why voting and civic engagement matters.