We boldly ask for your support both financially and with your prayers. What gives us this boldness? We believe there is nothing more transforming for college-age men than an experience with Training Ground. The staff and volunteers hear every day how a Training Ground experience has changed the trajectory of many college-age men. The impact is exponential. Behind every TG graduate comes a wake of better marriages, churches, communities, and families. Our men are changing their area of the world one man at a time..
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Leadership
Cory Smith
Founding Director - Colorado Area DirectorCory Smith is the co-founder of Training Ground, an organization he launched 20 years ago out of a deep desire to invest in the next generation through experiential learning, spiritual formation, and real-life adventure. Before that, he served on staff with Young Life in Virginia, where his passion for discipleship and mentoring young men took root.
An avid outdoorsman, he finds joy and clarity in nature—whether on a trail, in the mountains, or around a campfire. He believes deeply in lifelong discipleship and the transformative power of inter-generational ministry, where wisdom is shared and community spans across ages.
Cory and his wife Christine have lived in Colorado for 25+ years and call Colorado Springs home, where he lives with his wife Christine and their two children, Cedar and Sage.
A lifelong teacher at heart, Cory places a high value on hands-on learning and the power of experience to shape character and faith.
Chachi Avirett
Direct of Ministry and Operations - Tennessee Area DirectorChachi Avirett has over 22 years of ministry experience invested in discipling young men, college students, and middle and high schoolers as both a youth minister, a college minister, and a wilderness guide/instructor. He has more than 4,000 days guiding students and leaders through the wilderness—whether backpacking along rugged backcountry trails, casting a fly-rod on mountain streams, or navigating the deeper questions of life and faith.. His passion is helping young men discover their true identity and calling—learning not just who they are, but who God has created them to be.
Chachi believes the wilderness provides a unique backdrop for spiritual formation: a place where distractions fade, challenges sharpen character, and God’s voice becomes clear. His heart for mentorship and discipleship comes alive in these environments, where adventure meets transformation.
He and his wife, Grace, make their home just outside of Cleveland, Tennessee, where they are raising their two children, Hope and Jonathan. Together, their family embodies the same spirit of hospitality, adventure, and faith that Chachi brings into every mentoring relationship and wilderness experience.
Matt Vaught
Director of Strategic Development - Virginia Area DirectorMatt has spent 25 years investing in people through pastoral ministry, discipleship, and outdoor adventure. Before joining Training Ground, Matt served for 12 years as the founding pastor of Rockbridge Church in Lexington, Virginia. He also helped launch Adventures Wild Ridge, an outdoor experiential discipleship ministry built around a conviction that has shaped much of his ministry: a change of place plus a change of pace can lead to a change of perspective.
Matt is passionate about helping young men discover who God has created them to be and what it looks like to live with courage, purpose, and an authentic faith. He believes some of the most important formation happens outside the classroom through meaningful work, intentional community, adventure, risk, and honest conversations about God and life. That passion has made Training Ground a natural continuation of the work he has been doing for more than two decades.
Matt is a graduate of Campbell University with a degree in Theology and Christian Ministry. He and his wife, Megan, live in Lexington, Virginia, and have two daughters, Ella Grace and Sophia.
An avid outdoorsman, Matt is happiest somewhere outside …chasing turkeys, in a trout stream, sitting around a fire, or heading toward the next adventure. If you need to find him, there’s a good chance he doesn’t have cell service. Leave a message and he’ll call you right back.
National Board of Directors
There are numerous men and women that contribute to the stewardship and leadership of Training Ground. Below is our official board.
Xan Hood
Owner and CEO of Buffalo Jackson Trading Company
Charlotte, NC
Rem Cooper (Chairman)
Investment Advisor Representative, Scenic City Financial, LLC,TG Alumnus 2009,
Callie Parsons
Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Sarasota FL