The Beginning
SPRING Forward was originally founded by Kathy Vidlock and Catherine Liggett to educate teen athletes about body confidence and nutrition. In its first year, Nicole Oberlag and Biana Dorfman joined to design and implement a research project with high school athletes, delivering three educational sessions focused on body confidence, body image flexibility, and nutrition.
The athletes responded enthusiastically; however, COVID limited participation to one team. Despite this, the @spring_forward_girls Instagram page continued to grow, consistently attracting new followers.
Next Steps
The following year, Lisa Kingsley, Colleen Maher, and Ines Ramierez-Cibes joined to help lead the groups. Four additional sports participated; however, COVID once again disrupted the program, and one team was unable to complete the sessions.
Despite these challenges, the research findings were significant enough to present the project at several conferences.
Growth
We are now expanding the reach of our educational materials so that more schools and athletes can participate.
One initiative includes a book designed to help educate schools and teams.
Another focuses on training local SPRING Forward Ambassadors — teen athletes committed to educating their teammates and serving as positive role models.
Book
The book was created to expand the educational program to more schools and teams. It is available for purchase through many booksellers, including Amazon.
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Now
Although this was originally designed for teen athletes, many females both younger and older have shown interest and benefited from the posts.
We hope to launch a podcast to expand the education and reach an even wider audience. Stay tuned for more growth as it unfolds!