World T.E.A.M. Sports 2015 Annual Review | Page 13
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WORLD T.E.A.M. SPORTS AN N UA L R E V I E W
EVENT
ADVENTURE
TEAM CHALLENGE
NC 751FT [ 35°16'21.7"N 81°00'18.9"W ] NY 1,996FT [ 41°55'12.3"N 74°34'20.9"W ] CO 9,022FT [ 39°53'46.3"N -106°36'31.8"W ]
LOCATIONS: Colorado, New York, North Carolina
Writer T.S. Eliott once famously noted, “The journey,
not the arrival, matters.” For participants of World T.E.A.M.
Sports’ Adventure Team Challenges in Colorado’s high
Gore Range, New York’s Catskill Mountains and the
foothills of North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains,
strategic cooperation and personal assistance helped
each team successfully finish. Yet, a greater achievement
was creating close, lasting friendships among the athletes
through adventure and the uncertainty of competition.
Since 2007’s inaugural Adventure Team Challenge in Colorado,
World T.E.A.M. Sports’ only competitive event has expanded
beyond the original high Rockies location to include developmentally-disabled athletes in New York and corporate and military
athletes in western North Carolina. Debuting in 2015, the North
Carolina Team Challenge presented by MetLife brought together
teams of five, including two adaptive athletes, to undertake a
complex route through Charlotte’s U.S. National Whitewater
Center. Like the classic Colorado Team Challenge, participants
found success by working together.
At New York’s Frost Valley YMCA, The Center for Discovery
and American Portfolios Financial Services continued their annual
adaptive athlete Challenge in 2015. Participants climbed mountains,
paddled across a lake and undertook cycling courses. Their joy
and excitement encouraged family, friends and colleagues.
As the participants of Colorado’s Adventure Team Challenge
discover each year, lives can be changed through sports at altitude.
COLORADO
Biking
Hiking
Mountain Climbing
Orienteering
Rafting
ACTIVITIES:
DISTANCE:
30 Miles
DURATION:
3 Days
PARTICIPANTS:
50 Total
20 Disabled
30 Able Bodied
NEW YORK
Biking
Hiking
ACTIVITIES:
DISTANCE:
11 Miles
DURATION:
3 Days
PARTICIPANTS:
44 Total
22 Disabled
22 Able Bodied
NORTH CAROLINA
Off-Road Bicycling
Orienteering
Rock Climbing
Whitewater Rafting
Zip Lining
ACTIVITIES:
DISTANCE:
20 Miles
DURATION:
3 Days
PARTICIPANTS:
40 Total
16 Disabled
24 Able Bodied
PHOTO CAPTION:
Adventure Team Challenges in Colorado, New York and North Carolina offered athletes the opportunity to work together as teams in successfully completing challenging stages. Each team included
disabled and able-bodied athletes, who undertook off-road bicycling, white water rafting, canoeing,
orienteering, rope work and other outdoor activities. In all events, each team successfully finished.
Photographs by Vance Jacobs, Sarah Bell, Brian Gliba and Tony Granata.
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