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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[paddleBOT]

Toronto bids for dragon boat championships

Toronto has the "expertise and infrastructure" to host the world dragon-boat championships in two years, Mayor David Miller said today in making a pitch for the event.

Cont'd in article

[p00py p00py]

now why can't vancouver do something like this...i.e. toronto is partnering with the government and chinese community to have a designated area for their big festival....

[Guido]

DON'T GO THERE.........

[Photog]

did vancouver already have it? if so when?

[DBWTim]

did vancouver already have it? if so when?

I believe Vancouver had a World level dragon boat event in 1996 that went hand in hand with the Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival that year.  I could be wrong though.  Maybe the older generation can correct me if I'm wrong.

now why can't vancouver do something like this...i.e. toronto is partnering with the government and chinese community to have a designated area for their big festival....

It's because there's not enough interest. Here's a question for you, if you have never paddled before and don't know anyone that's on a team... would you ever go watch a dragonboat race? I also think it's a differently mentality over here than there...

Before I continue, I want to point out that these are my own personal opinions and by no mean reflect that of Dragonboatwest... The Chinese community here in Vancouver are a bunch of shut-ins. Only a handful are ever active in the community.  As with anything there are exceptions, such as Todd Wong, but in general the Chinese community isn't out there in the public eye.

The East Coast is a better place to hold a dragon boat event since there are more organized races over there.  Out here we have festivals such as Alcan, Victoria and Kelowna? I guess we could add in Richmond and the Taiwanese Festival... Over there, there's practically races every weekend (when the snow and ice thaw out...). With that kind of number of races, there's more of a competitive atmosphere whereas here it's la-di-da out here for most of the season.. I probably won't be making any friends with this comment but other than a handful of teams, the general feeling of the community is that it's a recreational sport that people do over the weekends.  If it were any different then I'm sure there would be more races organized with more competitive-minded teams.

I agree with what Guido said in the other thread, I would use the term "athlete" very loosely when referring to the majority of the community.  But that's the general concensus here isn't it? It's more for the fun than for the training... Yes, I know.. people should be having fun... and that we're not being paid to paddle like professional athletes...  but still.. I really wish that there be a more competitive edge to the community.

Anyways, back onto topic.  I think the paddlers in Toronto are just more vocal and active.  A larger population probably helps and they also have more venues to support that population.  All that just adds to an easy decision on the location for the event.

[Nook]

now why can't vancouver do something like this...i.e. toronto is partnering with the government and chinese community to have a designated area for their big festival....

That would be neat wouldn't it?  I think it'd be a great idea to host something like that over here.  As i understand it, it's just a matter of the city putting in a bid (much like 2010) to host an international event.

Before I continue, I want to point out that these are my own personal opinions and by no mean reflect that of Dragonboatwest...

I can't believe you just said this.

With that kind of number of races, there's more of a competitive atmosphere whereas here it's la-di-da out here for most of the season..

That just depends on what teams you've associated yourself with in the past.  If it's a fun-only recreational team, of course!  I remember seeing Kai I'kaika, TD Thunder and Success goin' at it at Victoria, they were going for blood!

I understand the gist of what you're trying to say.  But From what I've seen in Montreal, it's pretty much the same as here, you've got your serious, semi-serious, fun-only and clothing optional teams.

The only thing I noted was that their grid had a little bit more depth, something I'd attribute to the fact that there's so many more teams back east.

Dragonboat is neat b/c it's accessible and easy to get started in.  Which helps to explain why there are so many of those teams that you've described, but y'know, it's not just here, it's everywhere.

[Photog]

As i understand it, it's just a matter of the city putting in a bid (much like 2010) to host an international event.

this will prob be a good idea after 2010 is done with, having all the facilities completed and in place and what-not.

[DBWTim]

this will prob be a good idea after 2010 is done with, having all the facilities completed and in place and what-not.

Somehow I don't think a new multi-sport water course is in the facility building plans for the 2010 WINTER Olympics... and after 2010, I doubt any level of government would fund something of that scale for Western Canada...

The only thing I noted was that their grid had a little bit more depth, something I'd attribute to the fact that there's so many more teams back east.

I agree with you that there would be a greater number of competitive teams due to a larger population.

Personally though, I think there are two problems locally. One, Vancouver is over saturated with teams. Think of the NHL... they expanded the number of teams too fast and players that would have been playing in the minors a decade ago, are now playing in the big league. The Pittsburgh Pengiuns are a good example of this.  Their whole team should be in the minors... and their play shows it.  I'm not saying that they don't have heart... it's just that they haven't paid their dues, for lack of a better term..  In the East Coast this is not really an issue because they have the larger general population of major cities like Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa to draw upon. Out here though, we have one major city (Sorry, Victoria and Kelowna... but you're still growing).

Two, the competitive teams can't hold onto their paddlers who eventually go onto other water sports and have to replace them with less experienced paddlers. How many times have we heard that people would rather paddle OC's rather than train for dragonboat? There's a lot more options out here in the West where we can pretty much paddle all year round.  But the question I ask you is why would people choose, for example, OC1's over dragonboat? Is it the larger number of OC races? A more competitive field? more fun? Would these paddlers stick around if there were more smaller races in a year? We need to address these kind of issues if dragonboat is to be taken seriously. You can't maintain a competitive team if constantly replacing paddlers that you spent time and effort training them.

To get back on topic... yes it's great that a Canadian city will host the 2006 Club Crews.. but there are reasons why Toronto was considered before Vancouver... also.. I guess, it also helps that the majority of the Canadian contingent of the IDBF organization is based out east... then again, there's probably a good reason why the big shakers in the sport are out there, neh?

[Photog]

Somehow I don't think a new multi-sport water course is in the facility building plans for the 2010 WINTER Olympics... and after 2010, I doubt any level of government would fund something of that scale for Western Canada...

err sorry, not what i had meant. i meant that by that time, our transportation system will be upgraded and there will be facilities in place that would help attract and accomodate larger groups of visiters and events, which would help in bidding for said dragonboating event.  

[BigTallTree]

Somehow I don't think a new multi-sport water course is in the facility building plans for the 2010 WINTER Olympics... and after 2010, I doubt any level of government would fund something of that scale for Western Canada...

err sorry, not what i had meant. i meant that by that time, our transportation system will be upgraded and there will be facilities in place that would help attract and accomodate larger groups of visiters and events, which would help in bidding for said dragonboating event.  

where would we hold this said event?

south shore of false creek is slated for olympic village/housing, and concord pacific has plans for the rest of the land between science world and cambie st bridge on the north side.

[Photog]

south shore of false creek is slated for olympic village/housing, and concord pacific has plans for the rest of the land between science world and cambie st bridge on the north side.

i dunno. this certainly does not look good. what is slated to happen to the olympic village area after 2010? and what/when is concords plans going to kick in? what does this mean in regards to alcan?

[paddleBOT]

A top official of the International Dragon Boat Federation said yesterday he is "very impressed" with Toronto's bid to play host to the 2006 amateur crew world championships.

Cont'd in article

[BigTallTree]

i dunno. this certainly does not look good. what is slated to happen to the olympic village area after 2010? and what/when is concords plans going to kick in? what does this mean in regards to alcan?

olympic village becomes social housing i believe
concord pacific is already selling the area between the viaducts, north of gm place
the model they have in the showroom has buildings and parks filling all of the undeveloped area along pacific

[nakano]

i dunno. this certainly does not look good. what is slated to happen to the olympic village area after 2010? and what/when is concords plans going to kick in? what does this mean in regards to alcan?

olympic village becomes social housing i believe
concord pacific is already selling the area between the viaducts, north of gm place
the model they have in the showroom has buildings and parks filling all of the undeveloped area along pacific

Hmm...looks like we may be on the short end of the stick here...does this mean we may have to look at another race site beyond 2010?

[Photog]

Hmm...looks like we may be on the short end of the stick here...does this mean we may have to look at another race site beyond 2010?

i certainly hope not. it probably means nothing will be as convenient as it is today, such as parking, and the relative placements of the racers village, marshalling area, and docks.
we need BigTallTree to do more real estate research for us.