Feb. 7, 2012

BERKELEY - Four Golden Bear student-athletes, California director of student-athlete affairs Allie Rowe and assistant director Maryam Sharifzadeh spent Jan. 27-29 soaking up as much information as possible at the Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education conference in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Women's soccer's Kate Bennett, Tommy Dowley of men's swimming, football's Nick Forbes and Robin Rostratter of volleyball all made the trip down to southern California.

The Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education (APPLE) conferences - developed by the Gordie Center for Substance Abuse Prevention at the University of Virginia - are the leading national training symposiums dedicated to substance-abuse prevention and health promotion for student-athletes and athletics department administrators.

"I am extremely proud of our student-athletes for representing Cal with the utmost integrity and actively participating in all of the conference sessions and activities," Rowe said. "Not only did they work well together and grow as leaders, but they are truly committed to returning to campus as advocates for positive change."

The goal of the APPLE conference is to assist colleges in promoting student-athlete health and wellness by empowering teams of student-athletes and administrators to create an institution-specific action plan.

Women's soccer's Kate Bennett and football's Nick Forbes

"It was a great opportunity to bond and share ideas with Robin, Kate and Nick," Dowley said. "We were able to step back and take a comprehensive look at our athletic department's strengths and weaknesses in substance abuse prevention and other areas in order to generate a plan to better serve the student-athlete population."

The vision for Cal's action plan is to incorporate a student-athlete initiated component to the High Performance Initiative regarding alcohol and substance education. Additionally, they plan to help create a high performance week with speakers and mini-events for all student-athletes.

"The APPLE conference was a humbling experience that brought clarity to major issues affecting student-athletes not only in our conference but in other divisions across the country," Forbes reflected.

During the conference, student-athletes learned about the consequences and effects of alcohol and substance abuse on athletic performance. Other topics included hazing, mental health, dietary supplements, bystander intervention and peer education.

"I learned a lot of useful techniques to help improve my own leadership skills and improve the ways that others can step up to make a difference," Bennett said.

In addition to the education, the Bears also enjoyed the opportunity to get to know their fellow student-athletes better.

"It was great connecting with fellow Bears and learning how to become better leaders," Rostratter said. "I'm excited to bring back our action plan to campus to improve student-athlete well-being."

For more information, please visit the APPLE Conference website by clicking here.