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Virginia Tech Women's Basketball Shows an Impressive Voting Initiative

By Ryan Hartman | September 30
KB AND THE GIRLS

The Virginia Tech women’s basketball team followed the football team with an emphasis on civil duties and voter registration. There seems to be a real movement in the athletic department in Blacksburg to have their athletes participate in a crucial election year. The team announced on twitter yesterday that the whole team was registered to vote.

Coach Brooks states: "With the climate of our country right now, we felt this opportunity to have our voices be heard through the opportunity and ability to vote for our future leaders was very important."

It is no surprise that this year presents the country with another opportunity to let its voice be heard. There is a clear cultural movement in Blacksburg across multiple sports to be an avenue for change in our country and that change can be manifested in the voting booth.



"Bringing awareness to this opportunity was met without resistance and

for that I am very proud of our program. Regardless of who they vote

for, we stressed this is a way for them to have a say so in their

futures! The 100% participation means that VT women’s basketball is all

in! Many sacrificed so that we could have this opportunity, now it’s

time for us to take advantage of our right to vote."

— Coach Brooks

This was a program wide effort that no doubt comes with some challenges as the roster contains individuals hailing from all over the country as well as internationally in athletes from Canada to Australia to France. Coach Brooks' remarks are beaming with pride as he talks about the effort his staff and players put in to reach this mark.

Athletics and politics are two culture avenues that don't mix on a regular basis. Virginia Tech is doing their part to be on the forefront of civil liberties and advocating for players, staff and personnel to utilize their right to vote. It is one thing to talk the talk or in today's world "tweet the tweet" letting one's voice be heard on political or social issues. However, the women's basketball team is putting action to those words and making sure that wherever their values and beliefs lie that they will be putting those into action in the booth come this November. This is a laudable accomplishment in the off-season for a program that has a bright future on the hardwood as well.