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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[Colossus]

so there is talk of dragonboat not appearing in the 2008 Bejing Olympics as a demo sport.....

thoughts, opinions?  discuss.

[tiger]

It will NEVER be an Olympic sport.  Too many people per team.  Am I sad.  Nope, DBers are just weekend warriors anyways           

Just kidding off course (for you 7 day a week paddlers).

Seriously it will never be an Olympic sport so why bother thinking about it.

[Colossus]

*shrug*  why not think about it?  i mean, i don't consider tae kwan do to be much of a sport but that is in the olympics.  if you think about it, there are similar "levels" of competition.  local events, national events, international events.  (.....  are there national dragonboating events besides selections for the national team competing in the world championships?)  there are lots of people/team in hockey, and that made the olympics.  i mean, i certainly don't see myself being on the olympic team at all (i certainly don't have enough time for that kind of commitment and training), but i do think it'd be cool to watch being as its a sport i participate in and enjoy.

[rightarm]

considering all the non-competitive "sports" (and take that term with a grain of salt) that have been considered as olympic events over the years, DBoat would seem like a sensible candidate.  Ski Dance anyone?

I don't know much about the global outlook on dragon boating, but international standards and members adherence to them, ironically, will go a long way to building a sport's profile with the IOC.  I'm not sure what all exists in terms of standardization for dragonboat on the international level, but i see at our local level we have issues deciding what types of boats to use, race lengths, etc... i'm sure at the higher competitive level they have this all figured out.

as for the sport being more of a weekend warrior draw, i'm not sure that's anymore true than hockey or any other sport that adults play regularly... there is a tiny group of elite / international competitive athletes, a slightly larger group of nationally competitive, a larger group of competitive at various regional levels, competitive amateurs, and a whole lot of recreational people who are doing it for fun or whatever.

I do however think that there is a very significant draw to dragonboat as with funruns (eg. 10k's etc) and other seasonal events by charities and special interest groups (eg. breast cancer survivors), which does grow the sport's profile, but doesn't do much to grow its competitive base... a positive thing overall but it then leads to the next consideration:

competition:  this is only my second year, and again not familiar with the international structure... i know there are world championships, canadian club crews, etc... at the local / regional level there doesn't appear to be any sort of formal / standardized competition structure, just a hodgepodge of "Festivals", some which have different race lengths, some which use different boats, and most which emphasize the recreational entrants and races.  not a bad thing since the rec entrants are the bread and butter of the festivals, in reality, but a competitive series would be key to raising the competitive profile of dboat.  the challenges in this:  number of competitive teams, audience, sponsors, venue(s), sheer cost... etc. etc.

it would be neat to see though

[Colossus]

definately agreed on the cost/sponsorship/audiance.  i know many teams looking for sponsorship have a difficult time doing so, so the cost of having a set series for a competative core of teams would be that much more.  and as for audience, aside from dragonboaters themselves and the odd people here and there who show up to find out whats going on, and of course the family & friends of the paddles, do people actually show up to watch the paddling?  i know people go for the "festival" part, but how many of them actually stick around and watch the races?

[tiger]

Sponsorship etc is a whole different issue, we are talking about the Olympics so  I will bring it back on topic.

Agree there are some "sports" at the Olympics that I may consider not worthy to be there but what you have to look at is the following:

a.  Each DB team has 20 paddlers, steersperson, caller and then there are the alternates, so let's say 24 per team.  How many countries would you allow in?  If you look at other Olympic sports they have cut down the number of entrants to limit the number of participants.  For instance, look at swimming, kayaking/canoeing, etc, all of them have restrictions on the number of entrants.  If you limit the number of countries to lets say 8 then you are still looking at 192 participants.  Look at other events and you won't get that many.
b. You cannot compare winter Olympics to Summer.  Winter is much smaller (in activities) so they can have bigger team events (i.e. hockey) but even then each team has less than 20 players (doesn't Canada have 18 players going?).  DB would be a summer event where the sheer size of the event makes accommodating a minimum 200 more attendees not likely.
c.  To be considered for the Olympics you must first be recognized by the international body.  I think it has a acronym like GISAT (or something).  DB was rejected last time they sought recognization.  After this organization recognizes the sport then it needs to go for approval to the IOC and this typically takes years.
d.  To be considered for the Olympics there must be a minimum number of countries and continents before they will even look at it.  I believe the number is 40 countries and 5 continents.  I don't think DB qualifies on this point, yet.

As you can see, you won't be paddling anymore by the time DB is even considered for the Olympics but you can always dream as you do your "G" miles.

[Colossus]

hm, good points.  off the top of my head, there are 4 continents in dragonboating: North America, UK, Europe (here is where my geography fails...   are the UK and Europe the same????), Asia, Australia. 

i don't think the other discussion points have been all that off-topic cause they have to do with the international level of competition....   so i'll continue.

the thing with training around the world for any sport, people are bound to be using varying methods and equipment to train, with the knowledge that X brand of equipment will be used for the larger national/international event.  we would just need to have some sort of governing body to regulate this in all the locations where these larger events take place.   unfortunately (maybe?), dragonboating is still much an amature sport, and there are no leagues or teams set up.  dragonboaters are forking out their own money to participate in these events, and any travelling costs that go along with participating.  i think the days when even the highest level of paddler gets paid to paddle (ie. like a professional sport such as hockey, baseball etc) are far FAR away.  sort of along the same lines as what tiger is saying, the number of paddlers/team is far too great for this to reach that "higher" level of "professional sport" and probably olympic level as well.

[PaddleFunk]

Happens in Africa too... I believe worlds where in Capetown or somewhere like that a few years ago... and I'm sure if you checked all over South America they must have a dragon boat team... ohhh The Rio DB festival... sign me up 

Anyway 5 outa 6 (populated) ain't bad... and as for 40 countries... seriously... A good chunk of Europe and Asia paddle DB Canada/US/Australia/NZ I think the question of additional accommodation of athletes and conformation to an international standard are more the issue. 

Heck we are talking about Dragon boating as we know it but I think it is in the Malaysia they have 40 person boats... can you imagine the timing issues??? Anyway I think what we really need is a stronger international body that set the rules for international competition that the national and local clubs buy into... FIFA for example... or the IIHF... where a governing body sets the standards for international play and there is buy in from member organizations and enforcement at the local and club level. 

I'm not sure how it is in the rest of the world but as far as I know you don't need to be a member team of CDBA to participate in any of the festivals and honestly I'm not even sure what CDBA is doing their web site barely ever functional. 

Anyway back on topic...

Is Dragon boating going to be a demo sport in Beijing???
Well I've been hearing that rumor for 4 years now.

Is it true???
I guess we'll find out in 2008.

Will it be accepted as a full sport anytime soon???
Not unless the national bodies get organized (at least more so than the Canadian body) and prove to the IOC that we are to be taken seriously as a sport and from a practical aspect that we can fit into the rowing venues with a minimum of disturbance... well that and we don't run over anyone in a skull. 

Would it be good to see this obscure little sport we love become an Olympic event???
HELL YA...

[PaddleFunk]

Ok I'm replying to my own topic now... pretty bad.

Ok so I did some digging and the answer is NO... DB will not be a demonstration sport in the 2008 Olympics.

IDBF says so http://www.sdba.org.sg/docs/2006/IDBF/DBI%202%20Jan%2006.pdf check out Pg. 14/15 to get the dirt on what has to happen.

Oh well that suck but it was fun to dream.

[tiger]

IDBF is not even recognized as the official organization so asking them to go to IOC is a non-event.  Like I said they need to be recognized by GIAST and then they can lobby.  They were rejected last year.  Canada is not even a member of IDBF yet so we are even further behind.

 2008 is not even on the horison (as you have indicated), 2012 I will place a bet with anyone to say it won't happen, 2016, same bet as 2012, 2020 same bet in fact double of nothing, 2024, same bet quadruple or nothing.

My point, it won't happen in any of our lifetimes.

My 2 cents worth.

[Colossus]

what if some of us are super super young?      

[tiger]

Are you saying I am not super young  ?  Define super young.

Are you young enough?  I don't think you have not been thought of yet, or are you a figment of our imaginations.  If not then you are not young enough.

[Colossus]

Are you saying I am not super young  ?  Define super young.

Are you young enough?  I don't think you have not been thought of yet, or are you a figment of our imaginations.  If not then you are not young enough.

oh man, after reading that, i feel old and confused.   and no, i'm not super young, although that depends on who you're asking! 

[zephyrantes]

who cares if it makes it to the Olympics or not.   When you have a committee of people that need to be "pampered" (ie: BRIBED) to consider a cities' worthiness, I really begin to wonder about the legitimacy of their decision making.   So, dboat will never be an olympic sport, despite it's history.. yet TRAMPOLINE is an olympic "sport"?!   Oh yes... trampoline has more of a historic and cultural background.. but wait.. handing out one gold/silver/bronze medal is far cheaper than 20+ medals..

[PaddleFunk]

I think the real issue for the IOC is not the cost of producing medals rather the revenue they can generate from the broadcast rights... the relatively few dollars it may cost to strike an additional 75 medals but rather the hundreds of thousands that are generated from the sponsorship or in the case of dragonboating the lack of it, is what would stop it from being an Olympic sport.

Heck do you see any television crews actually covering the RACING at Alcan?  It is even off the radar of cable access, when Dragonboating makes the SportsNet or TSN highlight of the night then we may be able to TV rights and sponsorships and then "entertain" the IOC members 
Seriously though... they put "sport fishing" on TV but not dragon boating... I'm thinking it has a better chance of becoming an Olympic sport.  Hummm maybe I should throw a line off the back of the boat... Bass Master's here I come