The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training (TNT) program is the world's largest endurance sports training program where participants commit to the training routines, participation in an event, and raising funds for LLS. LLS is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education, and patient services. See
http://www.lls.org/ for more information. My husband has Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer of the blood. Recently, my daughters (16 and 13) and I decided to join Team In Training and participate in the Aflac Iron Girl Duathlon (2 mile run, 22 mile bike, 2 mile run) in Bloomington, MN. You need to be 14 years old for the event - and my 13-yr-old turns 14 two days prior, so is eligible. After signing up for TNT, we were informed that she would not be able to participate in the TNT program. The rules for TNT participation are that you must be 16 years old at the time of sign up, regardless of the rules for the event you are participating in. This means you can't raise funds, you can't attend the meetings, you can't even attend the team training sessions held in public places (e.g. parks). So, basically the under-16-year-old is left on their own to train for the event as far as TNT is concerned. Since we are doing this as a family, this makes any participation in the meetings and team training sessions difficult. Both of my daughters are involved in sports programs at schools and have doctor's permission and mine to participate. In our training sessions so far, my 13-yr-old (who is an avid soccer player) is the best athelete out of the three of us so far.
We think the TNT rules are unfair. The TNT rules should mirror the rules set up by the event. To me, it just doesn't make any sense to be more restrictive than the event itself. In this case, they are also raising less funds for LLS because of their policy - for no real reason. Please sign this petition if you agree. Hopefully we can change their minds - if not for us, then for future participants.
