A Challenge for Future Leaders
If you’re searching for community leaders, you might not think to look for them suspended 40 feet in the air, scaling a maze of ropes. But at the East Rowan YMCA branch, aspiring business leaders and groups of employees often use the ropes course as a way to build confidence and improve communication.
A resource intended to inspire self-discovery, the Paul Fisher East Peak Challenge at the Saleeby-Fisher YMCA, East Rowan Branch, provides a unique set of mental and physical activities. This outdoor experience is made up of ropes, cables and platforms suspended 25 to 40 feet in the air and designed to challenge groups to improve teamwork.
“There’s a shortage of leadership today. (There are) not enough people who know how to lead,” said Farmers & Merchants Bank Chairman and Chief Operating Office Paul Fisher, for whom the course is named. “So many people have a self-imposed ceiling. This takes the ceiling off a lot of people.”
Fisher and F&M Bank helped fund the course, along with Rowan Regional Medical Center, Cheerwine, Cozart Lumber and McKenzie Sports Products, Inc. The YMCA also contributed funds to the project.
Fisher said the East Peak Challenge is designed to help build character in people and provide a base for leadership skills.
Designed for the adventurous at heart, the course has programs that may be modified to fit all types of groups, including employee groups, college students, sports teams, youth groups, Scout troops and more. Members of local ROTC groups and the Salisbury Fire Department use the course for training purposes, and the Rowan County Sheriff’s Department uses it for team building with new employees.
Companies like Food Lion send groups of employees to complete the course to help build a team atmosphere in the workplace. “My experience at East Peak Challenge provided me with more insight into how valuable it is to not only trust your peers and team members, but to know and appreciate their strengths and opportunities,” says Charmaine Davis, director of compensation and benefits at Food Lion. “Knowing where those strengths and opportunities are allows you to be a much more successful and effective team. The East Peak Challenge definitely had a positive impact on my personal and professional development.”
The East Peak Challenge is open to any group of 10 to 15 individuals who are at least 8 years of age.
The low ropes course, designed for children ages 8 to 11, includes ground elements that require teamwork to accomplish group goals as well as a zip line and three cable elements that are 25 feet in the air.
Individuals must be at least 11 years of age to participate in the high ropes course, which sits 40 feet above the ground. There are eight cable elements on the high ropes course that present a significant challenge. As one participant climbs, teammates are responsible for safety and motivation.
Safety is imperative when working with groups 25 to 40 feet in the air, says Joe Finney, youth and adult sports director of the Saleeby-Fisher YMCA. Each individual who participates in one of the courses must fill out a medical questionnaire and release form and must wear a safety helmet, harness and two lanyards with carabineers.
The four-hour program begins with a devotion, followed by group activities on the ground to get participants “loosened up” both physically and mentally, Finney says. Instructors then give a safety and equipment instruction session and participants practice what they will do on the course on an element three feet off the ground. The group is then ready to hit the ropes course, be it high or low.
The experience ultimately is about teamwork and confidence-building, and Finney and his instructors focus each group experience on the needs and objectives of that group. “We teach these guys how to rely on each other,” he says. “It’s about the group and the team. We cater the experience to what people want to get out of it.”
Finney said the Y is always looking for more instructor to work with groups. Desirable candidates are people who are comfortable talking with newcomers and enthusiastic about their work. An ROTC background is preferred, but not required.
The course is open six days a week from mid-April until the end of November. Groups may schedule a session through the YMCA up to two weeks prior to the desired date. The corporate rate is $40 per participant. Non-profit group rates vary. For more information, call the Saleeby-Fisher YMCA-East Rowan Branch, at 704.279.1742.
Story by Jillian McCartney Wagoner
Photography provided by the Saleeby-Fisher YMCA-East Rowan Branch |
