[Guest]

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

 

Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

184 Guests, 0 Users

[DiggerPig]

Hello Everyone,

  The Sudden Impact Dragon Boat team established our youth program two years ago, entering into our third year, but we continue to struggle with finding paddlers.  We've put notices up at schools in our area, advertised in the newspapers (has that ever worked to get paddlers?), have reader boards up, advertised on Shaw community TV, advertised on radio, we even put up an advertisement at the local theater and we've spoken to sea cadets.

We currently sit at 14 paddlers and some of our paddlers could develop into great athletes for this sport. Unless we can find another 6-8 paddlers this year our season is in jeopardy.

We plan to have the kids paddle at the Dash (April 24), FCRCC Spring Regatta (May 15), Dragon Zone Youth Regatta (June), and Alcan (June 19-20).

I’m open to ideas as I don’t want to see this program stop.  Also if you know any youth willing to paddle at these events then please PM me. 

There are some very good paddlers on this team and most of them are only 16 years old.

Thanks for the input 

   

 

[Dr. Evil]

First off, props to you and SI for trying to develop a youth programme. You've seemed to cover off many different bases to reach out. Have the kids on the team offered any suggestions / feedback as to what would resonate with their peers? Or, perhaps what the barriers are to getting more kids out?

Even if you can't get the requisite 6-8 paddlers to run a full DB, perhaps a more scaled down approach could work? With the addition of 10 person Swifts, the kids can still race at the Swift Regatta (May 1), or Last Gasp. Not to mention 10 person voyageur canoe races (Cran Fest or Day of the Longboat).

This is all easy for me to say...I know for you, at some point you have to weigh the cost/benefit of having a youth programme and the time/effort required to run it.

Hopefully people involved in successful youth paddling programmes, be it Pemberton or some of the Lower Mainland schools may be able to offer you some insights.

Anyways, keep up the great work DiggerPig! All the best to you & SI this season.

[DiggerPig]

Thanks Evil,   I never considered the swift boats or more importantly the OC's. I was going to use them for training but racing is a very good idea.

[lamh85]

When you say "youth," do you mean ages 13 to 18? It seems that you've been advertising in mediums that don't reach the youth. There aren't many teenagers who read newspapers or watch Shaw tv. I suggest concentrating more on the internet. Facebook and Twitter can go a long way.

Before you dismiss my advice as cliche, keep in mind that the "new media" is taking a huge chunk out of the television, newspaper, and film businesses.

[BernMan]

Actually the media that DiggerPig did use to advertise for the youth team is probably to get the parents' attention rather than the youths he is trying to recruit. I do believe you need an adult's permission to participate due to legal requirements etc. So if the parents think the kids should try something new they would be the ones suggesting it to their kids. Am I close to reading your thought process Digger?

As for the suggestion of using the new mainstream media that is a very good one as far as getting the kids aware of the team but I think the parents have to grant permission anyway.

Good luck and I hope you get more kids coming out.