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2018 APPLE Training Institute Recap
For two weekends in January, over 400 student-athletes and administrators came to Charlottesville, VA, and San Diego, CA to participate in the APPLE Training Institutes. They represented 74 schools from all NCAA divisions across the country. Participants valued the weekends, especially the Sunday morning keynotes from Don McPherson and Aaron Taylor. Sixty-four precent of schools decided to focus their action plan on the Education slice of the APPLE model. Many of these schools plan to implment student-athlete mentor programs at their campus. Other action plans included creating interactive educational programs, developing social norms poster campaigns, and increasing student-athlete involvement in orientation. One student-athlete commented, "I am appreciate the 'action plan' part of this confernece. Making a plan and implementing it is going to be the best part of this overall experience." Another administrator stated "the best part of APPLE was hearing other schools present what they implemented on their campus. I love hearing the good, the bad, what worked, what didn't, etc. It is nice to know that most schools have the same set-backs and hearing how they overcame them."
NCAA Division II APPLE Training Institute Recap
On September 22-24, over 200 student-athletes and administrators came to Reston, VA, to participate in the second NCAA Division II APPLE Training Institute. They represented thirty-five schools from all across the country, including Alaska and Hawaii. APPLE staff tailored the curriculum to address the specific needs of NCAA Division II student-athletes. A large majority of the attendees had not attended APPLE before and really valued the opportunity to come together and learn about best practices in substance abuse prevention. One athletics administrator commented "to be honest we had no idea really what to expect heading into this training. But it was one of the best forums I have personally attended. Everyone that joined me loved it. We felt that we left the training with a very good idea of a program that we wanted to implement on our campus. We are so excited to meet again and get our ideas and thoughts on paper and charge forward with our plan."
Seventy-seven percent of schools decided to focus on the Education slice of the APPLE model. Many of these schools plan to implement student-athlete mentor programs at their campus. Other action plans included creating a video contest on alcohol misuse, bystander intervention training and holding monthly educational training for their athletes. Participants valued the time spent networking with other NCAA Division II attendees. Specifically the student-athletes bonded over their shared experiences. One wrote, "the best aspect of the training was that I got to meet other athletes who compete in Division II athletics.
Educational Partners
The APPLE Training Institute is developed and coordinated by staff at the Gordie Center at the University of Virginia