Sponsor vets for Winter Sports Festival
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
Disabled Iraq War vet Eric Avila tried out a sit-sled at the Sun Valley Adaptive Sport Camp in February. Photo by Willy Cook
|
|
Sun Valley Adaptive Sports is holding the Veteran?s Winter Sports Festival, Feb. 9 through Feb. 13, 2005. This four-day event is designed to introduce recently disabled American Veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and sled hockey.
Conducting the festival will be a national caliber coaching staff, many of whom are members of U.S. Paralympic teams.
The hope is that vets will reconnect to their love of sports through the opportunities offered at this festival. Eric Avila, a disabled vet who participated in the Sun Valley Adaptive Sport Development Camp last winter, will be in attendance again. His participation and enthusiasm last year showed that the success of the Sun Valley Adaptive Sports Program can reinstill confidence through recreation and even competition.
Sun Valley Adaptive Sports is offering people of the Wood Rive Valley a chance to sponsor a vet or veterans for the Winter Sports Festival. A sponsorship for a veteran is $2,500, but any dollar amount and frequent flier miles donated may be pooled for a sponsorship. In return, sponsors are invited to meet and spend time with the vets and receive tickets to the community hockey game. The Red Elephant, in Hailey, is sponsoring one meal for this group and other establishments and caterers are encouraged to match this generosity by sponsoring other meals.
Sun Valley Adaptive Sports is also seeking a place to house 15 people and ground transportation. For more information, contact Sun Valley Adaptive Sports at 726-9298, or simply mail support to P.O. Box 6791, Ketchum, ID, 83340.
