Weber State athletes volunteer to do it all at Weber County voting site
Two members of the Weber State volleyball team help set up tables and protective equipment at the Weber County Fairgrounds voting site Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
Two Weber State women's golfers post in front of an enlarged replica of an "I Voted" sticker Utah used to commemorate the history of women's suffrage in the state at the Weber County Fairgrounds voting site Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
Two members of the Weber State volleyball team help set up tables and protective equipment at the Weber County Fairgrounds voting site Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
Members of the Weber State women's basketball team help organize supplies at the Weber County Fairgrounds voting site Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
OGDEN — When her aging mother bowed out of working polls at election sites after 15 years as a coronavirus precaution, Velaida Harris decided to use that disappointment to spur many more to work in her place.
The third-year Weber State women’s basketball coach and her assistant, Amy Donovan, gathered information about volunteering for Weber County’s elections efforts and presented it to the group of head coaches at WSU.
When Monday and Tuesday of this week came, dozens of Weber State athletes volunteered at the Weber County Fairgrounds, which served as the in-person voting site for the county.
Athletes from women’s and men’s basketball, volleyball, softball and women’s golf were on hand to set up tables and protective equipment, organize supplies, greet voters, help elderly voters get to where they needed to be, direct traffic and sanitize stations for poll workers.
“With everything that’s been going on, these kids need to feel like they’re doing something productive,” Harris said. “Whether it had to do with social justice, or if it was about the importance of the vote, we just thought it was important to get out there and help.”
When Harris presented the opportunity to volunteer to her team, it was merely an extension of their recent history together.
“We’ve been talking for months about everything that goes on in the world because that’s just how I run my program. After all this, they’ve got to go be people and help society in any way they can,” she said. “So we’ve talked about the right to vote, women’s suffrage, civil rights, we got them all registered to vote … so this is just another piece of it, let’s go help other people do the same.”
The two basketball programs were among those that registered all eligible players to vote. Many athletes completed absentee ballots and sent them to their home states.
Among athletes who volunteered were citizens of other countries, who helped despite not being eligible to vote.
Teams and athletes shared photos and videos on social media of enthusiastic volunteer efforts, like Ula Chamberlin (WBB) and Dillon Jones (MBB) donning reflective vests and traffic wands to direct drivers in the parking lot.
“I think they felt really good about it — felt good about their commitment to take action and trying to make things better, whether that’s supporting other people, standing up for what they believe in,” Harris said.
She said the athletes received lots of thank you’s and “Go ‘Cats!” from voters.
“Our guys had a really good experience volunteering at the polls,” men’s basketball head coach Randy Rahe said. “They were very impressed with the enthusiasm and … received a lot of genuine appreciation from people for taking the time to come out and help our community.”
