TASP Awarded Christopher Reeve Grant to Host Athletes from Tribal Adaptive Organization!

04 Feb TASP Awarded Christopher Reeve Grant to Host Athletes from Tribal Adaptive Organization!

The Telluride Adaptive Sports Program (TASP)  was awarded a generous grant from the Christopher Reeve Foundation for a partnership program with the Tribal Adaptive Organization. The 18-month grant provides funding for six ski and hand-cycle camps for Native American athletes living with paralysis.

Donation and sponsorship opportunities are available specifically to welcome Tribal Adaptive Organization athletes. For more information about how to donate supplies, meals, and more please call 970-728-3524 or email: director@tellurideadaptivesports.org

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“We are thrilled to welcome athletes from the Tribal Adaptive Organization for therapeutic recreation in Telluride and Mountain Village,” says Courtney Stuecheli, TASP’s Executive Director. “The focus of the program is to offer multiple skiing and cycling opportunities so athletes living with paralysis can become independent skiers and hand-cyclists, encouraging life-long skills and a love of these sports.”

Based in Kirtland, NM, the Tribal Adaptive Organization was founded in 2017 by Noah Blue Elk Hotchkiss, with assistance from Olympian Billy Mills,. Their idea was to reach Native Americans with disabilities, using sports as a tool to improve health, wellness and independence.

In 2009, at the age of 11, Noah Hotchkiss was in a head-on collision that killed his step-mother and left his younger siblings seriously injured. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Noah went on to achieve many awards during his high school years winning a National Title in downhill skiing and being a top recruit for Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball, as well as a speaker and mentor for individuals and tribes across the country. The Telluride Adaptive Sports activities will build on the success of the Tribal Adaptive Organization by providing skills-based training for Native athletes living with paralysis to support one another for a strong and independent future.

“The Tribal Adaptive Organization is looking forward to working with TASP to increase access to the mountains, which are the traditional homelands of many Tribal Nations. TASP is a leader in providing adaptive recreation. Our athletes will learn from TASP’s expert instructors and experience the beauty of Telluride and the San Juan mountains,” says Noah Blue Elk Hotchkiss.

The Christopher Reeve Foundation is a national organization dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research, and improving quality of life for individuals impacted by paralysis through grants and other means. “Our region is geographically emote,” says Noah Blue Elk Hotchkiss. “We are grateful to the Reeve Foundation for putting resources towards creating networks of organizations to work together to support individuals with paralysis in rural, underserved areas, and for Tribal populations.”

The Christopher Reeve Grant of $36,140 awarded to TASP will fund four ski camps held in 2023 and 2024, and two handcycle camps in the summer of 2023 for the Tribal Adaptive Organization athletes living with paralysis. The first ski camp will take place February 10 & 11, 2023. The winter and summer activities will take place at the world renown Telluride Ski Resort and Bike Park, as well as visits to the Ouray Hot Springs Pool.

Telluride Adaptive Sports Program, more:

Telluride Adaptive Sports Program (TASP) is non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of people with disabilities by providing therapeutic recreational opportunities that develop life skills and encourage personal growth.

For more information or to get involved please contact TASP at 970-728-5010 our website at www.tellurideadaptivesports.org.