For 12 years, NCAA-affiliated institutions have been strengthening the "core" of their athletics department prevention programs by attending the Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education (APPLE) conferences.

Joe Gieck, director of sports medicine, and the late Susan Grossman, associate director of the Institute for Substance Abuse Studies, first received NCAA funding in 1992 to host the APPLE conferences as a method of disseminating the successful prevention model they developed at the University of Virginia. To date, 550 prevention teams representing 362 NCAA-affiliated institutions have participated in the APPLE conferences.

The APPLE model

The APPLE model is a useful tool to understand the many ways that athletics departments can decrease student substance use and abuse. These seven impact areas are known as the "slices of the APPLE" and include recruitment practices; policies; drug testing; education, and alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) programs; sanctioning; referral and counseling; and expectations and attitudes. Athletics departments send a "prevention team" of six to eight members to the conference -- including at least one student-athlete -- as well as athletics or student affairs staff members, including coaches, life-skills coordinators, athletic trainers and/or health educators. The prevention team works to develop an institution-specific action plan to take back to its campus. The conference schedule also promotes collaboration among schools from the three NCAA divisions to discuss their successes and challenges.

Peer education is a powerful resource for prevention. When student-athletes take ownership of a program or activity, it is much more likely to be supported by fellow student-athletes. At the APPLE conferences, participants learn about successful Student-Athlete Mentor programs, including information on starting a new peer-education program or enhancing an existing one.

In addition to providing a framework for prevention activities, the APPLE model specifically encourages collaboration between administrators and student -athletes. Evaluation data from the APPLE conferences suggest that the critical factor distinguishing successful and unsuccessful prevention programs is the level of student involvement and the willingness of athletics departments to seek the voice of their student-athletes. The APPLE conferences empower student-athletes to take an active role in prevention efforts and influence change within their community.

Success story

Evaluation of the conference weekend and its impact has shown positive results. Here is an example of its success.

While attending the APPLE conference in January 2003, the prevention team from Nazareth College, a Division III institution in Rochester, New York, focused its energy on improving the experience for recruits visiting Nazareth and educating its 300 student-athletes on host liability and responsibility.

The student-athletes who attended the conference from Nazareth returned to campus motivated and excited about implementing their action plan. They immediately involved the Student-Athlete Mentor program, developed following the 1996 APPLE conference, and began surveying student-athletes to assess their personal experiences both as a recruit and as a host of potential student-athletes. After reviewing the survey results, the APPLE team partnered with the campus ATOD counselor as well as an NCAA intern to develop handbooks for recruits and student hosts.

As a result of the survey results, they developed a series of training workshops for student-athletes. This year, these workshops will be a requirement for all student-athlete mentors and a prerequisite for students who would like to host potential student-athletes.

"Our environment is safer (and) we've provided education and tools that will guide health decision-making," said Adrienne Jester, Nazareth athletic trainer, about results at her institution from participating in the APPLE conference.

Paige Allen Hawkins is health educator for the Center for Alcohol and Substance Education at the University of Virginia and primary coordinator for the APPLE conferences.

For more information

The APPLE conference is hosted twice a year, in mid-January and early February. The 2004 dates are January 23-25 and February 6-8, and both will be in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Further information about the conference, including information about how to register, is available at the University of Virginia Center for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Web site (www.virginia.edu/case/apple.html).