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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[DBWTim]

Does anyone else feel that there should be more of an emphasis on the junior divisions?

I know that a lot of us started up through the junior ranks and we've stuck around through the years to become competent paddlers as well as a part of the dragonboat community. Do you see the paddlers on junior teams of today sticking around?

I know, I know... we haven't had the torch passed onto us yet and I'm already thinking about passing the torch...

Just thinking that it's probably not fun to be in a division like at Alcan where it's pretty much a 3 horse race with Laoyom, the US team and Hamber... Is there anyway to make it more competitive?

[Photog]

have a juniors only regatta and hype it up with sponsors and community tv coverage.

[presley]

I would LOVE to see more emphasis put on the Juniors.  I coach the Saint Thomas More team - it's my first year at the school and the first year they've had a team.  Myself and another teacher (we both compete with the Drunk'n Dragons) decided to put one together this year.

I doubt we'll win any medals, but the students enjoy paddling, they're working hard, and it's such a change from the typical football and basketball type sports.  I hope that they'll have enough fun and get enough satisfaction from this first year that the team will "blossom" next year.

I know that the Drunks will be out to cheer on the STM Knights ... I hope some of you will be there to cheer us on too  8)

[Nook]

Should the Laoyam Eagles be able to still paddle in the Junior division?  
Probably.  To me I treat them like a 500lb gorilla.  With immense respect.  And like a gorilla, they can race wherever they want to.

Anyhow, I would suggest (if this doesn't already happen) that there be a campaign of some sort to get at least a team representing each school in the festival.  How?  I dunno, not my job, but it'd be nice to see.


I would tie this in to giving first time coaches (experienced paddlers) a chance to get in with a team.  After all, you gotta start somewhere, and there's nothing wrong with a paddler trying their hand at coaching (if you do, immediately take 5 years off your life expectancy.)

We were very lucky to have Wayne Wong coaching Just Dragon Along (later Vo2Max) back in '93.  He knew the hows and whys, but more importantly he invested himself into the team over the long haul, creating a team with a pretty good bond between everyone.  That I think, is the key here.  You can always tell the strength of a team by how well they stick together.  No bond, no team, everyone goes home.