Four years ago, Bill Hamid didn’t vote in the last US presidential election. Now, the D.C. United goalkeeper is among the leaders of a league-wide push to encourage voter registration ahead of tomorrow’s Election Day.
“I didn’t understand the value,” he told the Washington Post. “I heard everyone say, ‘Vote, vote, vote!’ But I didn’t necessarily appreciate the importance not only for me but for young girls and boys after me. I value it now.”
Hamid and fellow goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. are both executives in the Black Players for Change and they spurred D.C. United’s campaign to get players to register and use their influence to help others do so as well.
“When you’ve played your career in D.C., conversations about issues and politics happen organically,” Hamid said. “I’ve been forced into this world of politics and am trying to make a difference. It’s my responsibility, it’s our responsibility, to pay attention, to be informed.”
That includes the club’s younger players, like 18-year-old Griffin Yow, who was offered a ride to a polling location by goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
“It’s not only about you voting; it’s that you have fans now, and you have to encourage people to get involved,” Hamid told Yow.
Hamid’s activism isn’t limited to an election cycle. He and Edwards Jr. joined social justice marches, including one with players from the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics.
To read the entire Washington Post story, click here.
