In March 2019, over 200 student-athletes and administrators travelled to Dallas, TX to take part in the third NCAA Division II APPLE Training Institute.  Student-athletes and administrators from 38 campuses enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the APPLE curriculum that was tailored to address the specific needs of Division II student-athletes. 

Throughout the weekend, campus teams met to develop a goal for their campus prevention efforts and to create a detailed action plan.  One attendee explained their plan as, “We are going to institute a SAM program on campus by matching upperclassmen mentors with our incoming class. We plan to progress into educational workshops on topics specific to athletes (e.g. nutrition, sleep, alcohol consumption and its effect on performance).”  Participants appreciated that the Training Institute “helped us discern our strengths/challenges and next steps” and that “it was real and focused on student-athlete input.” 

Participants had a lot of fun and also tackled challenging topics including marijuana, vaping, alcohol misuse, healthy relationships and nutritional supplements.  Participants valued how APPLE  promotes relationship building outside of athletics, as noted by a participant who stated, “...As the Director of the Counseling Center, I intend to implement many of the initiatives presented at this conference. Thank you!”