In Nashville, Ind. building a team is an adventure

Fritz Harbridge's excitement about the recent growth of Nashville's Adventure Center, where he is the action and adventure director, is evident even over the phone.\nThe 2-year-old facility, located 30 minutes east of Bloomington, sits on 283 acres of wooded land with trails weaving through the entire landscape. The facility is designed to improve team building and group communication.\nThe center is part of a chain of similar facilities for which Experiential Resources Inc. has built ropes courses. With locations across the nation, this chain has grown 40 percent in the last four years, Harbridge said. He plans to implement some of the successful features of similar sites and accommodate an even wider variety of groups in the future, including greek organizations and sports teams.\nHarbridge, who previously worked with the YMCA, learned about the center through his colleagues. After tiring of office work, he sought a job that would give him more interaction with nature and the outdoors. With the property's thick forest and woodsy atmosphere, the Adventure Center was the perfect fit.\nThe facility is equipped with several team-building challenges, including two low ropes courses, a 40-foot climbing tower and a 15-element high ropes course. Each challenge requires a different level of teamwork and is dedicated to helping participants improve relationships and communication. \n"What we do here is team building," Harbridge said.\nOvernight accommodations are provided upon request at the site of the center, ranging from camping sites to the Bridge House, an indoor facility equipped with bathrooms and a kitchen. There are also six cabins, which can sleep a combined total of as many as 48 people. Those are the center's most popular accommodations, Harbridge said.\nThe Adventure Center welcomes groups of 10 or more and strives to help solve group problems. Groups ranging from Big Brothers Big Sisters to bachelor and bachelorette parties are encouraged to help each other solve challenges, depending on the particular group's individual goals.\nThe center has also seen a variety of school groups, sports teams and sororities and fraternities. According to the Adventure Center's Web site, it was started "with a dream to provide experiences that will change people's lives and make the world a better place." \nHosted by facilitators, groups have been able to accomplish their goals consistently, Harbridge said.\n"We have been able to hit it every time," he said, referring to the successes the Adventure Center has helped create.\nThe Adventure Center, which is open year-round, rain or shine, leads its groups by the motto of "challenge by choice," which means recognizing that each individual has a different personal goal, depending on level of comfort. While this could mean climbing to the top of the climbing wall for one person, another person might be content with stepping onto the first peg, Harbridge said. \nFacilitators like Harbridge encourage participants to accomplish their individual goals while recognizing their role as a part of the whole. Facilitators serve to keep participants safe and to make events more challenging and creative, encouraging "communication and delegation," Harbridge said.\nMark Voland, a case manager at Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, planned a retreat at the Adventure Center last March with the intent of improving team building and communication among 15 male adolescents and their big brothers. \nAfter spending a night at the center and completing the low ropes courses and the "Tango Tower," the nickname for the climbing wall, Voland said the trip was "definitely worth it." It helped improve communication among the boys and their big brothers, strengthening their connection while allowing for better mentoring. Voland said the trip was "excellent," and he intends to lead another retreat in March.\nThe Adventure Center will accommodate groups by providing food or a catering service, but many groups choose to bring their own food when staying for longer periods of time. Prices vary according to sleeping arrangements and use of optional services.\nFor more information about the center, visit its Web site at www.theadventurecenter.net.