Leading up to the end of 2013, we'll be counting down the top 5 Off the Field stories of the year. The No. 2 story will be announced Friday, Dec. 27 at 3 p.m.

The America East and the You Can Play Project announced a partnership in 2012, but that partnership began making strides in 2013, thanks in large part to the help of former Vermont student-athlete and America East CFES Community Service Award winner Kaleigh Wood.

Wood, a standout on the women’s cross country team, spearheaded an effort to adopt the nationwide You Can Play project on the Vermont campus this year. You Can Play is dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for athletes at all levels without regard to sexual orientation. Wood co-created a “You Can Play” film, illustrating the inclusive environment at UVM, specifically within the athletics community, which has been received well throughout and beyond campus. Due in part to Wood’s efforts, the America East announced an unprecedented partnership with You Can Play in December, becoming the first Division I conference to partner with the movement. Here is the video Wood helped in creating:

The America East and You Can Play are now moving to expand educational initiatives that will include a speaker series, locker-room campaigns, You Can Play nights and videos created by campuses and teams to educate the general public.

In addition, the America East will work closely with GO! Athletes, which has recently formed a partnership with the You Can Play Project. GO! (Generation Out) Athletes is a national network of current and former LGBTQ student-athletes and allies at high school, collegiate, and post-graduate levels that serves to educate and empower.  They connect LGBTQ student-athletes with other LGBTQ student-athletes, and serve as a united voice to encourage schools to create safer spaces.  GO! Athletes is dedicated to educating athletes, coaches, administrators, and fans to foster athletic communities that are accepting of all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

GO! Athletes and You Can Play will assist the America East in organizing a speaker series where current and former LGBTQ student-athletes will visit each of the nine campuses and speak to the entire campus community about their experiences and how to better the campus environment to be more accepting.

America East institutions Vermont, Hartford,UMass Lowell and UMBC have released videos of student-athletes speaking in support of You Can Play. More schools will continue to release similar features in the future, which can be viewed on the conference's You Can Play Project page.

Each of the nine America East campuses will host various initiatives throughout the academic year, including You Can Play nights at games, organize locker-room campaigns that will ensure respect and safety for all athletes, and create videos and other materials to educate all about the importance of equity without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

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