The APPLE Training Institutes, developed and coordinated by the University of Virginia's Gordie Center and funded by the NCAA since 1991, are the leading national substance misuse prevention and health promotion conferences for student-athletes and athletics department administrators.
The goal of the APPLE Training Institute is to assist colleges in applying UVA's comprehensive APPLE model for substance misuse prevention to their campus environment. Over the course of a weekend, student-athletes and administrators create an institution-specific action plan to prevent student-athlete substance misuse and promote health and wellness.
The APPLE Training Institute offers teams of student-athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, administrators, and substance misuse prevention specialists an opportunity to evaluate the environment within their athletics departments and develop specific actions plan to enhance prevention efforts. Since 1992, nearly 60% of all NCAA member institutions have attended one of the annual conferences.
The eight learning outcomes for the APPLE Training Institutes are for participants to:
- improve relationships between administrators and student-athletes
- increase understanding of the APPLE Model
- increase ability to impact substance misuse problems
- increase student ability to confront teammates
- increase student leadership skills
- increase knowledge of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) issues for student-athletes
- increase knowledge of effective ATOD prevention programs
- create a clearly defined, measurable action plan
