American Portfolios Sponsors 2012 Adventure TEAM Challenge at Frost Valley, New York

June 7, 2012 - PRLog -- American Portfolios and World T.E.A.M. Sports have teamed up with The Center for Discovery, Vedder Price and the Frost Valley YMCA to create the third annual Frost Valley Adventure Team Challenge for disabled youth this June 8-10.

Held at the Frost Valley YMCA in the Catskill Mountains at Claryville, New York, the 20 participating disabled and able-bodied athletes undertake outdoor activities including bicycling, canoeing, orienteering and hiking as members of competing teams. In doing so, each athlete learns the value of cooperation and creative problem-solving for the team to successfully complete the many course challenges.

The 2012 Challenge begins on the afternoon of June 7 as team members arrive at the Discovery Health Center for registration, the opening ceremony, and evening barbecue. On Friday, June 8, the competition begins at Frost Valley in the mid-afternoon, following an athlete’s briefing at The Carrus Institute and a coaches/volunteers challenge. Team competition continues on Saturday, June 9 with three additional stages, including a strenuous climb of 4,180-foot Slide Mountain, the highest summit in the Catskill Mountains, for selected participants. Athlete awards and closing ceremonies will be held Saturday evening at the Frost Valley cabin campsite.

Created in 2010 by American Portfolios’ Lon Dolber and Joel Forman of The Center for Discovery, the annual weekend event is patterned after World T.E.A.M. Sports’ successful Adventure TEAM Challenge in Colorado’s rugged back country. At the Frost Valley Challenge, like Colorado’s more demanding Challenge for adults, team members must recognize the value of competing as a team, rather than as individuals. For both able-bodied and disabled athletes, this experience is life-changing.

Event sponsors include American Portfolios Holdings, a Holbrook, New York independent brokerage and financial service corporation founded in 2001; The Center for Discovery is a non-profit Harris, New York organization that has provided educational, health, residential and family support for children and adults with severe disabilities for more than 60 years; Vedder Price is a general practice law firm of 265 attorneys with offices in Chicago, New York, Washington, DC and London; and Joe Forman, an attorney at Vedder Price.

World T.E.A.M. Sports is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization chartered in North Carolina and headquartered in Holbrook, New York. For more than 20 years, World T.E.A.M. Sports has organized athletic events for disabled and able bodied citizens – mountain climbing, white water rafting, biking, and more. In all our events – whether mountain climbing, biking, white water rafting or many other sports – we include both disabled and able-bodied participants. Four things always happen at our events: 1) Disabled participants build self-confidence and physical fitness. 2) The disabled provide a role model for other disabled citizens, encouraging them to take up physical activities. 3) The disabled become a moving inspiration to other participants and to spectators when they see that disabled individuals can meet challenges beyond anyone’s imagination. 4) The disabled and able-bodied participants learn to work as a team to overcome those challenges. We change lives through sports.