World T.E.A.M. Sports at 20 Years October 2013 | Page 13

The 2009 Coastal Team Challenge brought together injured veterans from the United States and Canada for a sea kayak adventure. World T.E.A.M. Sports archive photograph. Jeep World of Adventure Sports featured a short documentary about the 2008 event. In August, 2009, World T.E.A.M. Sports hosted the Coastal Team Challenge, an eight day adventure from the organization’s Military Initiative which brought together American and Canadian injured veterans in the Pacific Northwest. The participating soldiers traveled 82 nautical miles by sea kayaks from Anacortes, Washington through Puget Sound to Vancouver, British Columbia. World T.E.A.M. Sports sponsored two events in 2010 for young athletes. With Massachusetts’ Unified Sports Program and the Boston Bruins National Hockey League club, World T.E.A.M. Sports provided support for a sled hockey event for children with disabilities in Boston. This event was held again in February, 2011, at Boston’s TD Garden. In late September 2010, World T.E.A.M. Sports sponsored a three day Adventure Team Challenge for developmentally disabled teenagers and young adults at the Frost Valley YMCA, in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The Frost Valley event, directed by corporate partner American Portfolios Financial Services, also was held in June, 2011 and 2012, and in September, 2013. The Sea to Shining Sea debuted in 2010, and featured a cross-country bicycle ride from San Francisco, California to Virginia Beach, Virginia. In the summer of 2010, a team of mostly veteran participants rode 3,687 miles over 64 days through 14 states on their journey across America, visiting large cities and small towns. Like the 1987 Ride Across America, the Sea to Shining Sea ride brought together disabled and able-bodied athletes to overcome obstacles in pursuit of a team goal – crossing the North American continent. A documentary about the ride and the participants by director and cinematographer Austin Smithard, Two Shining Seas, was released to the festival circuit in October, 2012. World T.E.A.M. Sports is a big supporter of youth events, like this 2007 climbing event in Boston. World T.E.A.M. Sports archive photograph.