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HISTORY
The Beginning
SPRING Forward was originally was an idea formed by Kathy Vidlock and Catherine Liggett to educate teen athletes about body confidence and nutrition. Nicole Oberlag and Biana Dorfman joined them the first year to design and implement a research project with high school athletes undergoing three educational sessions discussing body confidence, body image flexibility and nutrition. The athletes loved the project, but COVID limited the amount of teams to one. But, the @spring_forward_girls instagram page attracted new followers consistently.
The Next Steps
The following year, Lisa Kingsley, Colleen Maher, and Ines Ramierez-Cibes helped lead the groups. Four more sports were involved, but again COVID struck and one team could not finish. But the research data was significant enough to present the project at several conferences.
Growing the Audience
Spreading the educational material so that many more schools and athletes can participate is happening now. One aspect is a book that is available to educate schools and teams. Another aspect is educating local SPRING Forward Ambassadors. These are teen athletes commited to educating their team and being positive role models.
Spring Forward Book
The book was designed to help get the educational program out to schools and teams. You can purchase a copy at many booksellers including Amazon. Link to Spring Forward Book
Current status
Although this was designed originally for teen athletes, many females older and younger are interested and have benefitted from the posts. We hope to start a podcast to get the education spread on a wider level. Stay tuned for more growth as it happens!
