University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Add Their Voices To "You Can Play" Project
December 13, 2013 | General
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - From the start, the You Can Play project stood out to Cricket Lane as a special opportunity.
"As soon as I heard about this, I knew that we'd want to participate," said Lane, UNC's Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development. "From day one, our student-athletes were so enthusiastic about producing this video and being part of this powerful message. To stand up and say, "We will not discriminate" is very meaningful, and to do it as a part of a huge network of other schools and teams is even more so."
The You Can Play Project is "dedicated to ensuring equality, respect and safety for all athletes, without regard to sexual orientation." UNC joins many other college athletic departments, professional teams, individual athletes and music groups that have made videos aimed at increasing acceptance in sports.
To see more videos, click here.
DanDan Hua, an assistant in the UNC Student-Athlete Development office, organized the video's production. She met with a small group of student-athletes in November to outline the project and the script that UNC would use. (Each video is individual, but all include the "You Can Play" tagline.) Throughout the process, John Paul Gaylor, a UNC senior who is a former member of the Tar Heel men's swimming team, played a key role in bringing the video to fruition.
Filming took place on Dec. 5 in the strength and conditioning room at Loudermilk Center. With finals kicking off the following day, UNC's Athletic Department hosted a pancake dinner for student-athletes from 10 p.m. to midnight. Before or after eating, Tar Heels stopped in to film their parts.
Student-athletes and staff members who appear in the video are:
Cricket Lane, Assistant Athletic Director, Student-Athlete Development
Sam Austin, Men's Fencing
Paige Hanson, Women's Lacrosse
J.P. Tokoto, Men's Basketball
John Paul Gaylor, Men's Swimming and Diving
Erin Satterfield, Softball
Nate Britt, Men's Basketball
Zoe Skinner, Women's Lacrosse
Shakeel Rashad, Football
Kelly McFarlane, Women's Soccer
Devon Carter, Men's Track and Field
Katherine Perry, Women's Golf
Xylina McDaniel, Women's Basketball
Allen Champagne, Football
Rick Steinbacher, Senior Associate Athletic Director
Natalie Ritter, Women's Swimming and Diving
Jon Heck, Football
Raby George, Men's Soccer
Tessa Lyons, Women's Tennis
Jarrod James, Football
Haley Watts, Gymnastics
Reeves Zaytoun, Men's Golf
Whitney Kay, Women's Tennis
DanDan Hua, Student-Athlete Development
In addition to those who appeared in the video, many UNC student-athletes (most of them Student-Athlete Athletic Council representatives and Leadership Academy participants) contributed thoughts and suggestions for the script.
The video was filmed and edited by Laura Escobar Rothenberg, a member of the UNC New Media Staff who is also a former Tar Heel student-athlete (women's lacrosse).
"It was such a wonderful group effort and we love the way it turned out," Lane said. "DanDan did a great job organizing it, as did Laura in filming and editing, but it was the student-athletes who were the driving forces behind it.
"We tell them that as a UNC student-athlete, you have a powerful platform. The question is, 'How will you use it?' They learn teamwork in their sport, but this is an example of using teamwork to have a larger impact outside of the competitive arena. When they work together on something like this, it makes all of their voices louder."
Players Mentioned
