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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[kl023]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question that I am hoping someone from the Nanaimo DB Festival can answer for me.  I raced in Nanaimo this weekend, my wife and I had a wristband but my 3 year old daughter did not have a wrist band.  We were told that we were not allowed to bring her into the racer village.  I asked the security guard what I was supposed to do with my 3 year old, tie her to a tree and leave her outside the racers village.

I finally managed to get a wristband for my 3 year old and entered the racers village with her.  A few minutes later a security guard entered our tent asking to see her wristband.  Really???  Do they have nothing better to do?

I don't understand this rule, someone please explain to me what am I supposed to do with my 3 year old?

[Katy]

Have you tried contacting them directly?  May get a quicker answer in case they're not reviewing this forum.

I'm sure the volunteers were just following instructions but perhaps a solution would be to have them contact with the volunteer coordinator for off script events for a resolution.  Obviously tying the child to a tree is not an option but they were probably not comfortable not following the rules they were given.  Having worked with volunteers in many other capacities, I know sometimes they take things extremely literally which can be a good or bad thing.

We had a similar problem but eventually got around it.

[kl023]

I actually talked to someone when we checked in on Saturday and she told me that under no circumstances is anyone under 13 allowed in the racers village without a wrist band.

I was not the only person that had this issue, every time I walked into the racers village there was another paddler with their kid waiting outside.

[Biscuit]

We had the same problem.  We inquired several times and received the following information from various officials:  one said that the rules clearly state no one under 19 is allowed (however, as far as we can tell, the rules don't say that), another said our child couldn't come in at all but that the race committee would consider this problem for next year, another one told us that if he let our child in "all 600 people in the paddlers' village would want to bring a child in" (really?), another official told us that our child could come in with a wrist band....however wouldn't actually give us a wristband for him.  We located a wristband ourselves and our 3 year old was eventually allowed in.  However, I saw babies without wristbands inside the paddlers' village....clearly a security risk. 

A very fun, generally well-run festival, but we would ask that this problem is indeed considered and a solution implemented for next year. 

We would also appreciate if the starter would ensure there is alignment before calling the start. 

[brainiac]

If they are worried about liability issues with unattended children, they just need to put up this sign:

[enoki]

We had a somewhat similar problem with our dog. Came over from Vancouver. Since our team manager handled all race registration details we were unaware of the no pets rule. On Saturday morning no one challenged us when we entered racer's area with Chloe. Later that day one of the security guards walking around inside approached us and said the website states no pets in the racer's area. When we told him we were from Vancouver and what were we supposed to do with her, he threw up his hands up in the air, said no pets and walked away from us. We wound up finding a "creative solution."

Overall a pretty good festival but common sense by security is definitely needed.  Common sense seems to work well at RTA, Harrison, etc.

Let's hope Nanaimo festival management reads these emails.

[vicpaddler]

They used to allow dogs in the village and there were issues with owners not "cleaning up" after their pets and dogs running around unleashed. I'm a big dog lover but completely understand their stance on this. There is also a lot of activity and noise in the village which isn't exactly a relaxing environment for a dog. The last thing I want to hear is a dog barking on top of the loud speaker.

So far all we have is people complaining about not allowing kids and dogs in the paddlers village. Time for some postive comments! You couldn't have asked for better weather, the races were on time pretty much all weekend, fantastic beer gardens, as per normal, and some great racing. While the platinum final wasn't as close as last year, the times were pretty amazing. 1:58 for Navy and a scorching 1:54 for the GD's who were sub 2:00 in 3 of their 4 races this weekend. Congrats as well to the junior team for making the Platinum final against some strong teams. Lots of womens teams with some close finishes. Overall I think everyone had a great time.

[Backward Rowing]

I agree with Katy. Volunteers are given very basic instructions and do not have authority to alter the rules.  They could make changes, but keep in mind, that the more confusing the rules, the less likely volunteers will help.  Having paid security just makes festival fees go up. So, it is a balancing act of racer village access between having only those on the roster versus everyone and everything.

You should bring this to the attention of the festival organizing committee at http://nanaimodragonboat.com/page/contact-us

My past experience at the Nanaimo's racer village has been excellent, in terms of a large festival in which I felt secure with leaving my stuff at our team's tent during both days and overnight, and where I was not accosted by panhandlers going from tent to tent. I cannot say the same about Vancouver RTA (with security volunteers) and Seattle (without security volunteers).