The first of 18 America East You Can Play Basketball Nights will take place tonight at Hartford’s Chase Family Arena where the Hawks will battle New Hampshire in a matchup of two of the top women’s programs in the conference. Every America East basketball program will host a You Can Play night in the coming weeks with the purpose of furthering awareness and education to help ensure equality, respect and safety for all athletes without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.
You Can Play nights are the latest element of America East’s partnership with You Can Play. Each home team will wear special America East branded You Can Play shooting shirts prior to their You Can Play Night game. Additionally, the nights will include fan outreach, public address announcements, You Can Plays video produced by the school’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee playing in arenas with video boards and more.
“Our partnership with You Can Play is an important component of who we are as a conference,” said America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen. “Our commitment to diversity is embraced by our student-athletes, who are leaders on and off the court. Basketball games are some of our highest-profile events and we hope these nights will help further educate fans of You Can Play’s mission and America East's commitment to it.”
America East became NCAA Division I conference to partner with You Can Play in December of 2012. Since then, the conference has helped further You Can Play’s mission by sponsoring a speaker series and locker-room campaigns on its member’s campuses in addition to You Can Play nights and creating videos to educate the general public.
America East You Can Play Basketball Nights
Jan. 21 – WBB: Hartford vs. New Hampshire
Jan. 22 – WBB: Maine vs. Vermont
MBB: Maine vs. UMBC
Jan. 25 – WBB: Albany vs. Hartford
WBB: UMass Lowell vs. Vermont
MBB: Albany vs. UMBC
MBB: UMass Lowell vs. Vermont
Jan. 31 – MBB: New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook
Feb. 1 – WBB: New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook
Feb. 3 – MBB: Binghamton vs. Hartford
MBB: Vermont vs. Maine
Feb. 4 – WBB: Vermont vs. Stony Brook
WBB: UMBC vs. UMass Lowell
Feb. 10 – MBB: Hartford vs. New Hampshire
Feb. 11 – MBB: UMBC vs. Stony Brook
Feb. 18 – WBB – Stony Brook vs. UMass Lowell
Feb. 25 – MBB: Stony Brook vs. UMass Lowell
Feb, 26 – WBB: Binghamton vs. Stony Brook
About You Can Play
You Can Play is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity. You Can Play works to guarantee that athletes are given a fair opportunity to compete, judged by other athletes and fans alike, only by what they contribute to the sport or their team's success. You Can Play seeks to challenge the culture of locker rooms and spectator areas by focusing only on an athlete's skills, work ethic and competitive spirit.
About the America East
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference sponsors championships in 18 sports and provides its nine member institutions and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.