Thanks to Eric Reveno, NCAA is having a Ted Lasso moment

“I do love a locker room. It smells like potential.”

— Coach Ted Lasso (the beloved protagonist of Apple TV’s latest breakout hit)

Ted Lasso’s rapid ascent into our cultural zeitgeist solidified something I already knew: That coaches are an often unsung force for good.

As a former collegiate athlete, I’ve long known the power of coaches, but my current enthusiasm is tied to a more recent journey of discovery and transformation alongside my own personal Ted Lasso, my friend and colleague Eric Reveno, the former Stanford player and assistant coach who coaches the men’s basketball team at Georgia Tech.

Like Lasso, Coach Rev looks at a locker room and sees potential in his players — not just as competitors, but as compassionate, caring and capable community members and community leaders. In the past year, Coach Rev added a new element to his coaching focus: civics.

In June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, Coach Rev embarked on a mission to help his players register to vote. But his efforts didn’t end with his own team. Coach Rev became the driving force behind #AllVoteNoPlay, an initiative that urged athletics to take election day off from practice or games so players could vote and volunteer. With support from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, over 1,100 coaches ultimately signed the #AllVoteNoPlay pledge.

Coach Rev and I met while I was working on my own mission to change the way we engage young people in the voting process. I saw a future marred by a divisive, expensive and alienating political process that didn’t support a healthy, robust democracy. I was curious how practices of design, empathy and imagination might transform the experience of voting.

Together with colleagues, I created Vote by Design, a program focused on turning “apathy” into civic agency through experiential learning and practice. Our aim is to help young voters develop the confidence to approach voting as a lifelong skill that could be nurtured through practice. Seeking ways to support his new #AllVoteNoPlay initiative, Rev brought Vote by Design to his students.

2020 itself was a singular moment in time, and a new set of questions emerged: How do we ensure that young people continue to learn and engage in our democracy? Who can help them understand their central role in shaping the future? Who, in the lives of young people, holds the position of trust and mentorship to deliver the necessary messages about civic participation without being dismissed as “boring,” “preachy” or what “others do.”

The answer is clear. As Rev said to me: “It’s time for coaches to teach civics.”

The need to educate young people about their personal power and agency in every moment of civic life — from helping a neighbor, to voting for town council, to casting that biggest of all ballots every four years. Research shows that civic awareness and engagement not only help young people find their voice in their own communities, but also increase their success and satisfaction in life. Civically empowered and educated youth are more likely to finish their education, are better prepared for future careers, show greater empathy and tolerance for differing viewpoints, and are more likely to give back to their communities through volunteerism later in life.

So this Nov. 2, we’re spreading those messages across the entire NCAA. Every coach, every team, regardless of sport or division, can take part in #AllVoteNoPlay. It’s as easy as choosing a civic drill and trying it with your team. Gathering for a team barbecue and movie night, taking an online quiz or engaging in a game of “civic tag” may not seem like a life-changing effort, but Rev and I believe in the power of these to start building the civic muscles athletes will need for a lifetime of good citizenship and community leadership.

We look at a locker room and see potential.

And I hope that this is just the first of many #AllVoteNoPlay Days ON, rather than days OFF, where coaches seize their moment and realize that potential.

Lisa Kay Solomon is on the faculty of Stanford University’s design school and a creator of Vote by Design, an educational site designed to promote civic and political engagement among younger voters. © 2021 The Fulcrum. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.