i-tri is a goal-based, comprehensive empowerment program for Middle School girls grades 6-8 (ages 11-14) who can benefit from being a part of positive supportive community of adolescent girls, professional i-tri Program Leaders, and Coaches. Our 2021 virtual program begins on Feb 1st and runs through May 22nd 2021.
Girls meet weekly on Saturdays from February to May for hour long practices that are designed to build strength to complete our culminating challenge. These sessions are a combination of cardio, core and endurance. Despite the fact that many of our girls come to us with a dislike for fitness, our Athletic coaches make fitness fun by breaking down exercises and building a strong foundation of fitness for the girls foundation each week—all while wearing fun costumes!
Published research by Jennifer Gatz, PhD, has established that i-tri’s program has a significant impact on i-tri girls’ executive functioning, aptitude, and attitudes, which in turn leads to improved performance in the area of science. As a result of this compelling research, i-tri has created our groundbreaking “Science of Triathlon Integrated Curriculum”. Modified for our virtual program Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are interwoven throughout every aspect of the program. During Empowerment Sessions, the girls learn the science of how neuroplasticity and visual motor rehearsal lead to improved self-image and athletic performance. During fitness they FEEL directly on their body the impact of terms that they have learned, such as buoyancy, drag and incline plane.
i-tri has enlisted the help of an impressive list of Olympic and professional triathletes, runners, and cyclists. Key among these are Katie Zaferes (World Champion and Olympic Triathlete),Gwen Jorgensen (Olympic Gold Medalist triathlete), and Sarah Piampiano (a professional triathlete and member of the i-tri Board.) the i-tri OLYMPIC CHALLENGE will challenge our girls MIND, BODY and SPIRIT and give them a new sense of accomplishment and confidence.
We are unwavering in our strong commitment to our girls. In light of COVID-19 and social distancing recommendations, we have modified our programming into a digital format. Girls will receive instruction and training to reach their MIND, BODY and SPIRIT goals, via weekly live Zoom meetings. We’ve taken our empowerment, exercise and training sessions online, keeping girls connected to our programs. Like our live meetings, these digital engagements help girls build strong connections, gain emotional support and learn tools to help them succeed now and for years to come.
We are well aware of the mental health impacts brought on by the pandemic which have the greatest effects on adolescents. i-tri’s program focuses on providing girls with the tools they need to promote their social and emotional growth. Our program has always been about empowering girls. We focus on building resiliency and strength that girls can use in and out of i-tri as they manage their loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
i-tri is free for all participants. We provide everything your daughter will need to be successful in our program.
i-tri is a goal-based program—although the program is free, we do ask that you register your daughter for the virtual i-tri Olympic Challenge and pay the $25 registration fee when you register for i-tri as a sign of your family’s commitment to your daughter’s goal. If you cannot afford to pay this registration fee, please just let your Program Leader know we will waive the cost for your family.
We ask that girls/families take part in fundraising activities that assist our organization in raising the funds necessary to provide all that we do, but this is not a requirement. We also ask you to attend the virtual Program Kick Off Retreat and support your daughter along her journey.
Your daughter will meet virtually with i-tri after school once a week from 4:00 – 5:45pm Eastern, and on Saturdays from 10:30 – 11:30am Eastern, from February through May. You will get weekly reminders through our app.
We realize that things come up (illness, family emergencies, travel, etc.) so of course we’re lenient about excused absences, as long as the family lets us via our messaging app ahead of time.
We also know that without the proper training, we cannot feel confident that participants will be fully prepared to complete the race. Therefore:
If there are more than 3 unexcused absences (just did not feel like going, was too tired after a sleep over, forgot to let us know that she would be out of town, etc.) the participant may be expelled from the program.
Date: Saturday May 22nd, 2021
Time: 11am
Location: Zoom
No. While we welcome and appreciate committed volunteers, in order to provide the best training and ensure quality and safety, we pay qualified, certified, educators and coaches.
For Zoom safety i-tri has taken all the necessary precautions recommended by the FBI. Our Zoom meetings are completely private, only program staff can invite members to join a meeting. We do not share our meeting links publicly and only registered members will get access to the links. We have disabled most of Zoom’s features, we have turned off all chat and whiteboard settings, only Program Leaders can share videos and screens. We keep all participants muted unless they are called on by their Program Leader to share. In addition to these safety recommendations, we also make sure we have AT LEAST two Program Leaders on each call monitoring the screen during the sessions.
