Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team

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From left: Hailey Dietrich, Monahe Marchione, Sam D'Agostino, Erik Matthews, Eithan Hahn, Ashley Breth

SAAC Members Attend APPLE Training Institute

2/1/2019 12:53:00 PM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications

AMHERST, N.Y. – Four members of the Daemen College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), along with staff members Hailey Dietrich and Ashley Breth, attended the APPLE Training Institute for student-athletes and administrators held Jan. 25-27 in Orlando, Florida. Student-athlete representative included men's soccer players Erik Matthews (Galway, N.Y.) and Eithan Hahn (Lancaster, N.Y.), women's soccer player Sam D'Agostino (Mississauga, Ont.) and women's cross country/track and field athlete Monahe Marchione (Buffalo, N.Y.).

The APPLE Training Institute, developed and coordinated by the Gordie Center for Substance Abuse Prevention at the University of Virginia and funded by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), is the leading national substance abuse prevention and health promotion conference for student-athletes and athletic department administrators. The goal of the APPLE Training Institute is to empower teams of student-athletes and administrators in creating institution-specific action plans to promote student-athlete health and wellness. All teams are required to submit their action plans prior to departure from the institute. Each team selects a primary "slice" of the APPLE model and a secondary focus if applicable. Daemen's representatives selected expectations and attitudes, and education are their "slices" to focus on.

While at the conference, participants were guided by a team of experts in the field of substance abuse prevention who showed participants how to evaluate the ATOD (alcohol, tobacco, and other drug) environment within their athletic department and develop specific action plans to enhance prevention efforts.

Also, the Daemen representatives participated in a social media campaign, using #RespsonsibleWildcats to bring awareness to their objectives while attending the conference. The 24-hour social media campaign promoted competition among the attendees, and Daemen's representatives secured the most views of their posts and videos to win the contest. Each Daemen representative was awarded a virtual reality headset.

The entire trip for Daemen's representatives was funded by the NCAA CHOICES Grant, a funding mechanism for a collaborative effort between the Athletics and Student Affairs Departments to provide increased alcohol awareness programming for students. Daemen was announced as a recipient of the NCAA CHOICES Grant last spring.

SAAC is a group of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience and to help drive the community outreach efforts of Daemen Athletics.

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