Coaches 4 Change: NDSU basketball’s Josh Sash joins social justice organization

The organization is a platform designed by coaches across the country to engage, educate, empower and evolve collegiate student-athletes on issues of social injustices, systemic racism, and the power of voting.

FARGO, N.D. — The topic of racial injustice has come to the forefront across America in recent months.

It has led many to begin uncomfortable, yet necessary conversations about race, but it’s also left people with the question ‘How can I do more to help?’

That was the struggle faced by NDSU men’s basketball assistant coach, Josh Sash.

“I always kind of felt like I was on the sideline with this conversation,” admits Sash. “Something with the situation with George Floyd just kind of hit home with me. It was just something that I said ‘I need to do more.’ These are conversations I need to get into with a lot of colleagues that I have.'”

It was one of those conversations Sash had with a former colleague, current Indiana State assistant coach, Kareem Richardson, where he was introduced to Coaches 4 Change.

The newly formed organization is a platform designed by coaches across the country to engage, educate, empower and evolve collegiate student-athletes on issues of social injustices, systemic racism, and the power of voting.

Sash is one of over 40 initial members.

“As a white man joining the conversation, I wanted to join more as a listener,” said Sash. “To really try to educate myself and gain perspective of some experiences that maybe I am a little naive to that maybe other coaches that I know have dealt with.”

The website educates student athletes with a number of resources. It provides clear definitions to things like systemic racism and redlining, shares the stories of black athletes and their impact on the sports world, and includes links to books, podcasts, and videos that can further inform people on racial injustices.

The site also gives all the necessary information needed when it comes to voting. Not only does that include information on this year’s election, but also a tutorial on how a person in every state can register.

One of the major goals is to get 100% voter registration among all student athletes.

“Maybe doing some different challenges on Twitter where we get 100% registration and then we challenge another team in our league to ‘Hey, South Dakota or South Dakota State, we have 100% registration, let’s get you on board to make sure you do that.'”

Voting is a simple, yet important way for everyone to do their part and make change happen. It’s one answer to the question how can I do more to help?

For Sash, becoming a member of Coaches 4 Change was another.

“It is not just a one time thing. It’s a long-term deal. There has been an investment in this website and it is going to continue to grow,” said Sash. “Try to make it a platform that all coaches can use and all sports at all levels, just to support their student-athletes. I think it could be a really good thing and provide change.

Members of Coaches 4 Change are currently just those from men’s basketball, but Sash says the next step is getting the same number of coaches from women’s basketball involved and then moving on to other sports as well.

Sash says he is in the process of introducing the organization to his team and getting all his players registered to vote. From there, he hopes to work with other coaches at NDSU to make sure all Bison teams are doing the same.

Link to website: Coaches 4 Change