NORTHRIDGE – Matador student-athletes Erin Indermill and Kelly McGiffney were among four CSUN representatives that recently attended the APPLE Training Institute conference in San Diego on Jan. 26-28.

Indermill, a CSUN women’s indoor and beach volleyball player and McGiffney, a thrower on the Matador women’s track and field team were joined by CSUN’s Associate Athletic Director for Administration Ryan Swartwood and Steve Grech, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer.

The APPLE Training Institutes continue to be an opportunity for student-athletes and administrators to begin to work collaboratively to create and implement their action plan on their respective campuses. In addition to learning about best practices for substance abuse prevention within college athletics, participants created inspiring action plans for change.

Indermill and McGiffney answered some questions from GoMatadors.com regarding their experience over the three day conference.

What was your favorite part of the trip to San Diego and participating in the APPLE Institute?
Erin Indermill (EI) – Having so many other schools including UCLA, Stanford, and Cal there was really eye opening because it made us realize that we are all going through similar experiences and working together with other campuses is a great way to solve these problems.

Kelly McGiffney (KM) – My favorite part of the trip was actually getting to spend quality time talking about issues regarding athletes/athletics with Steve and Ryan. Being able to have meaningful discussions is hard when there’s an administrative title that gets wedged between administration and the students.

What was one thing you learned this weekend?

EI – Most student athletes across the country aren’t abusing alcohol or other substances, but the overall impression differs because in the rare case someone does take things too far, it stands out and draws more attention.

KM – One thing I learned this weekend, was that important issues, such as substance abuse and mental health are much more common than we think and if not addressed early in athlete’s careers, the effects can be unexpectedly detrimental. The need for exposure of these common struggles is substantially high for college athletic departments.

Why is it important for student-athletes to participate in these conferences?

EI – The APPLE Training program is an amazing opportunity for student athletes to share our experiences with administrators and we know that our input is going to help start a change on campus.

KM – The outcome for the participation in these conferences is nothing but positive. Schools that consistently come back to the conference show higher impacts of change, rather than going every other year. Being able to interact with other college’s student athletes when not being in competition is a rare opportunity in itself, and it is a good reminder that we are all here to be good students, good athletes, and good ambassadors for our schools. Though the mascots, divisions, and locations are different, the lifestyles aren’t. In order for positive change to occur across the country in all colleges, students need to be in communication with others at different campuses in order to learn from another, as well as, have an understanding of different issues going on.

What are you bringing back to the CSUN campus from this weekend?

EI – The conference itself required every campus to leave with an action plan and ours is surrounding the idea of educating the student body about all of the social norms on campus and how drugs and alcohol affect the body.

KM – I’m bringing back an incentive for progress on this campus. After the conference I knew that we had to hit the ground running, in order to not waste any momentum. I’m making it my mission to be in consistent communication with our athletic faculty; so we can each have a newfound understanding of issues occurring within athletics. Therefore, I’m bringing back a movement that will facilitate positive growth physically, and most important mentally. We are one Matador here.

How are mental health issues affecting student-athletes?

EI – Former NFL player Aaron Taylor spoke about substance abuse throughout his career and by numerous teammates. Current athletes may not see the negatives at the moment but in the future the results could be devastating. Taylor personally had over 6 teammates pass away from substance abuse and mental illness. If we can start a new mentality on our campus we can positively affect future students.

KM – Mental health affects student-athletes in an array of ways. Some student-athletes fertilize their issues and allow them to grow internally without seeking help. This could be by pushing away these feelings of loneliness, discontentment, or anxiousness thinking that they are athletes and tough. In reality, being self aware and accepting of these things is the first step in a healing process. An interesting fact to note is that both parties have to acknowledge the “injury” in order for successful healing to occur or else a student-athlete will feel like they are not being supported in their environment and motivation to keep going begins to drop. For example, if a student-athlete breaks their ankle and their coach will not accept that truth even after many tests, telling the athlete to just get taped- the athlete feels guilty for being hurt and in pain. Therefore, motivation to properly heal drops tremendously. Mental health is not something that can be successfully dealt with by one’s self: athletes need the backing of their team and most importantly their coach to achieve successful growth in one’s sport.

Thank you CSUN Athletics for allowing me to be a representative for my school. I take pride being a Co-President with Erin, and though this is my last year, just know this fire of progress will continue to happen when I’m gone because “Success Lives Here”, and I fully believe that.

APPLE Training Institute website