August 9 Washington Adventure Teen Challenge Empowers Disabled Competitors
Washington, DC (PRWEB) July 30, 2013 -- Parents of children and teens with developmental and physical disabilities are encouraged to register their children to participate in the August 9 Adventure Teen Challenge from the national non-profit World T.E.A.M. Sports.
Held at the scenic Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park along the Potomac River in Washington and suburban Maryland, the Challenge provides disabled children and teens the opportunity to hike, mountain bike and canoe in a supportive team event. Participants are teamed with able-bodied athletes who provide support and assistance during the single day event’s three stages.
“This event took our son to the next level of self-confidence, said Bonnie Linen-Carroll, whose son Jerry participated in the inaugural 2011 Adventure Teen Challenge. “He left feeling so empowered, so confident in himself.”
Partnering with Dreams for Kids DC, Push America, Bikes to Borrow and The Boathouse at Fletcher’s Cove, World T.E.A.M. Sports provides the Challenge at no cost to adaptive participants. Lunches are provided by Subway of the Bethesda Naval Hospital, with fruit baskets from Edible Arrangements for nutritious snacks.
“Dreams for Kids DC is so grateful and honored to be partnering again with World T.E.A.M. Sports on what will truly be another inspiring Adventure Teen Challenge,” said the non-profit’s Executive Director Glenda L. Fu. “Despite their disabilities, these children will hike, cycle, canoe through miles of forest, water and much more!”
Online registration is currently open for the 2013 Challenge, with a limited number of spaces remaining for children from the Washington region. The event will include from 12 to 15 children with disabilities with able-bodied college volunteers providing on-course assistance.
“This event challenged his disability. He accomplished new goals that I didn't think he could accomplish, but would never say to him,” said Linen-Carroll of her 19-year-old disabled son, Jerry, who is registered to participate in his second Challenge.
Said Fu, “The best part is seeing how the volunteers and coaches from World T.E.A.M sports empower these children to succeed! This clinic is different than all of other extreme recesses because of its length, physicality, and mixture of different activities--and we could only hold it with the support of World T.E.A.M.!”
“At the end of the trail walk, Jerry was asked why did you do it?" recalled Linen-Carroll of the 2011 Challenge. “He said, ‘because I'm a winner, not a loser, a winner.’ My son said it, but most of all, World T.E.A.M. helped him to believe it.”
Richard Rhinehart, World T.E.A.M. Sports, http://worldteamsports.org/, 855-987-8326 Ext: 4, [email protected]
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