Return Of Youth Triathlon Is A Boon For i-tri Program

Over the course of the 12 years it has been in existence, i-tri has done many positive things for young girls across the East End. Addressing the physical, mental and emotional needs of girls ages 11 to 14 with a wide range of activities and programming centered around building self-confidence and empowerment has been the organization’s calling card, and it’s a model that’s proven successful.

But the seed that started it all was the idea of organizing group training for a youth triathlon, specifically taking young girls for whom participating in a triathlon would represent a major step outside of their comfort zone. Many of them come into training not knowing how to swim or ride a bike. Showing them that they could learn those skills and overcome the fears of competing with a large group of peers has been a turning point for many of them, a way to open a whole new range of possibilities.

Training for the Hamptons Youth Triathlon has remained a key feature of the i-tri program, but the organization was forced to adjust when the COVID-19 pandemic showed up on the scene in 2020. The pandemic presented a whole host of challenges for i-tri girls and the program leaders, and the cancellation of the triathlon in 2020 and 2021 was another blow the group had to absorb.

After a two-year hiatus, the triathlon is finally back this year, set to go off this Saturday, July 16, at 7:30 a.m. at Long Beach in Sag Harbor.

It’s open to children of all ability levels, ages 10-14, but it’s a particularly meaningful event for the i-tri girls. Group founder Theresa Roden explained what it has meant to the girls in her group to get back to training for the triathlon this year.

“It’s about facing fear and doing it anyway,” Roden said. “We’re giving them this opportunity to face their fear, and they really have to make a decision that day about whether they’re going to do it or not. And on the other side of the finish line, they’re completely transformed. We always say that the finish line is just the beginning.”

Roden explained that throughout the pandemic, the i-tri coaches did their best to keep the girls engaged and excited, even though they had to transition much of their programming to Zoom. It’s been well documented that an adolescent mental health crisis was — and in many ways continues to be — one of the biggest fallouts from the pandemic, and that was certainly true for many of the girls in the i-tri program. Roden said she and her fellow coaches and organizers saw, in real time, the mental health decline of their participants, many of them living in homes where they were facing food insecurity, housing insecurity or both.

Doubling down on their efforts to provide mental health support became key for i-tri during the pandemic, and they’ve carried on with that approach consistently over the last two-plus years.

“Knowing that our program was going to be back in person this year, we trained our entire staff in trauma informed care and coaching,” Roden said, adding that the training came from the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport. That group did a training program with i-tri staff in November 2021, and Roden said it has made a significant difference. She said it was also comforting to discover that much of that training included elements and principles that the staff was already putting into practice.

Introducing challenges in small, repetitive doses, for instance, is part of that training, and it works well with triathlon training.

“When you’re talking about patterned, repetitive movements, what’s better than running and swimming and biking?” Roden said. “The girls are doing something repetitive and being surrounded by supportive staff and their i-tri teammates, and it’s been fascinating to see.”

Roden said that this year’s triathlon training group included 21 girls who did not know how to ride a bike, a much higher number than usual, likely a result of two years of not being able to train and meet together in person, and parents dealing with so much more stress on their plates that they did not have time or financial resources to buy a bike and teach their children how to ride one.

The last of those 21 girls finally achieved the bike-riding milestone last week, Roden said, and many of the staff were in tears when it happened.

Roden said she’s excited to watch the girls participate in the triathlon again, after a two year hiatus. The staff and coaches tried their best to provide other “challenges” during the times when they could only meet virtually, but without the end goal of the in-person triathlon, “that fear factor was missing,” Roden said.

“It’s wonderful to be back out there,” Roden added. She’s looking forward to the experience she’s known to be true after the triathlon each year.

“On the other side of the finish line is a feeling of confidence for them, and they really take it, and everything they’ve learned in the program, not just the physical part, but the mind, body and spirit elements,” she said. “From February to June, they’re taking part in weekly empowerment sessions, visualizations, positive affirmations. We talk about how when you feel good, your light shines bright in the world and it effects everyone around you.

“Their light will light up the skies of Sag Harbor for months after this,” Roden added.

Armed with the self-esteem boost that conquering the triathlon gives them, roughly 80 percent of the i-tri girls who finish the race go on to try out for school sports teams, or join student council and other organizations.

“They find their place and they find their voice,” Roden said. “Giving young girls the power to do that is more important than ever,” Roden added.

“With everything we’re dealing with in the world right now, it’s a scary time to be a young woman because they’re losing so much control,” she said. “It’s never been more important to empower future female leaders. That’s what this program is all about. It’s about giving them the power to make their own choices and advocate for the things they need.”

The i-tri program is open to girls ages 11-14, offered in 12 different school districts from Montauk to Mastic. It includes a six-month program, running from February through June, that culminates in the triathlon. During those six months, participants meet twice weekly, for both physical training and weekly empowerment sessions. The program is offered for free for every participant. For more information visit itrigirls.org.