PEMBROKE — As the nation turned its attention to election matters Tuesday, a quiet day unfolded inside the athletic facilities at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

The NCAA recommended June 12 for athletic teams to schedule a day off for their athletes and staff to vote, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches called for all basketball teams nationwide to do the same.

“I believe it was started by Georgia Tech,” UNCP head mens basketball coach Drew Richards said. “They kind of started it and it kind of caught fire, and it’s an awesome time for our student-athletes to feel empowered so we want to do everything we can to make sure they know we support them and they feel that way.”

UNCP’s teams, most of which are in offseason workouts currently, were not officially off for Election Day; the Student Athlete Advisory Committee considered it over the summer, but ultimately said the decision should be made by each individual team to best fit their athletes’ needs. This was in part because many athletes are registered in their hometowns outside of Robeson County, meaning they would likely vote early, absentee or by mail, athletic director Dick Christy said.

Nonetheless, most teams were off Tuesday, and athletes department-wide have become engaged in the electoral process.

“I don’t know if excitement is the right word; I think motivation is probably the right word,” Christy said. “They’re all motivated to vote and have their voice heard. That was kind of the goal, with some of the things we set out at the beginning of the semester to make sure were communicated well.”

The majority of the athletes are eligible to vote in a presidential election for the first time, since most are between age 18 and 22.

“Hopefully they don’t think this is the norm, all this craziness,” Christy said. “I remember the first election I got to vote in; I’m sure they’ll remember this one for a long time.”

“A lot of them either have not before because of their age, or were a little disinterested,” Richards said. “The best thing that’s happened this last three or four years is the level of enthusiasm among college students has grown exponentially.”

Richards said his athletes have learned about researching the candidates to find the best fit for their vote, and that the differing viewpoints of other voters is simply part of the process.

“When it comes to getting more involved in social justice movements and elections, and really doing the research of which politician best fits my political beliefs, and that it’s OK that if someone doesn’t believe the same thing you do,” Richards said. “You guys can have differing political beliefs and still be cordial, and still be coworkers or friends or whatever the case may be.”

For many of the athletes, interest in this election in particular has come after the various social movements in recent months.

“I think in this past year a lot of events have happened, and I think it’s brought great awareness for a lot of individuals,” UNCP head football coach Shane Richardson said. “I think there’s a lot of guys on our team that are heavily involved with civic responsibilities and even politics, and just trying to understand the voting process a little better, so I think guys really took to that and they were really exercising their right to vote today.”

For many athletes on campus, their involvement has gone beyond simply participating in the election.

“We had some guys involved in the march on campus and in the town of Pembroke,” Richards said. “We’ve had other guys that have taken a more keen interest in voting or politics, or even student organizations at UNC Pembroke. We’ve had guys just have a little more sense of ownership of topics and things that they can feel proud about, or even challenge things. That’s the great thing about America, you have free speech and you’re allowed to challenge things that you think are wrong or believe in things you think are right.”

“I think guys have understood that there’s things that have gone on outside of football, or even just casting a ballot,” Richardson said. “They recognize their daily lives and the way that they live and how they potentially get involved, or even just how they treat people and look at people on a daily basis, that’s just as important, that every day throughout the year is just as important as one day of voting.”

But even with that added involvement, as votes have been cast these athletes have made sure they exercised their right and had their voices heard.

“It’s one of those things, just trying to understand just how to be an American and your rights, and just exercising the opportunity to vote,” Richardson said. “These guys, hopefully, will be able to do it for the rest of their lives and not just in 2020. It’s good for them.”

“I think being vocal and being advocates for the issues they see as the high priority in the election,” Christy said. “I’ve seen a lot of them active on social media, and I’ve seen some of them active on campus, so I think that’s really where their voice has been to this point.

“The ultimate voice is making sure they get in the ballot box.”