The Dragons Head

SEPT May 20162016

BREAKING NEWS......

COMING UP Sun 2nd October Gold Coast Chinese regatta Sun 9th Sept Asia pacific Emergency Services Sun 23rd October Currumbin Corporate Regatta Sun 30th October Manly Regatta Fri 11th - Sat 12th November Pan Pacs Varsity Lakes

UPCOMING MEETINGS UPCOMING COURSES November Level 1 Coaches Course for NEW and Level 1 RENEWALS

Congratulations to the elected committee for 2016-2017 season: - President: Judy New - Vice President: Alex Mayes - Finance Director: Gary Stewart - Events & Technical Director : Janine Lette There are stilll 2 positions vacant - Marketing & Communications Director - Administration Director Anyone who is interested in either of these positions please email DBQ [email protected] for further information.

Congratulations To Maggie Boyce and Martin Pavelka for being selected to coach two of the Auroras 2017 teams heading out to compete at the 2017 World Cup in China next year. Well Done

Website: www.dbq.com.au

Maggie Boyce - Senior C Coach Martin Pavelka - Senior A Coach

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The Dragons Head

SEPT 2016 May 2016

Western Regional Training Camp Western Regional Clubs Lakers, Ipswich and Lake Dwyer held on the 16th & 17th April at Wivenhoe Dam their 2nd annual training camp. Two days of amazing weather and an awesome turn out by all clubs involved. Saturday morning began with a land base session, followed by on water sessions of endurance paddling and some fun activities. A 50m swim test was also conducted later that morning. Saturday afternoon the Clubs were back on the water for another Session comprising of Technique and Drill work, plus 200m & 100m Races. Sunday morning all clubs were out early for another busy water Session. This year another Sweeps Training was held with (10) Accredited and new sweeps from the Western Regional Clubs plus (5) from Redcliffe Dragons who travelled out to the Dam to join the training Program. Thank you to those new sweeps who got up for the first time, well done. All in all a very enjoyable and successful Training Camp. Going by the whispers in the camp, it sounds like the clubs involved are hoping that this will become an Annual Event. Pani Martin Coaching & Sweep Assessor

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

To celebrate the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival NQ Phoenix Dragon Boat Club based in Townsville, North Queensland joined forces with the Townsville Chinese Club to celebrate the annual event on Saturday 4th June. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated each year on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. Delegates from Townsville’s sister cities Foshan and Changshu in China provided lots of color and excitement with Lion and Dragon dancers and traditional sticky rice dumplings (Zongzi). Originally the dumplings were dropped into the river for the fish to eat instead of the body of Qu Yuan who had drowned himself in the Miluo River – the origin of dragon boat racing. After the traditional blessing of the boat by a local Buddhist monk the Mayor of Townsville, Jenny Hill performed the awakening of the dragon by painting of the eye, middle eye and horns and the fun really got underway. The public were offered to “Give it a Go” and have a free paddle on beautiful Cleveland Bay in absolutely perfect conditions. Over 35 newbies gave it a go including many of the members of the Chinese Community and afterwards participants were offered free yoghurt and fruit salad. The celebrations coincided with Townsville’s 150 year celebrations so there was lots of exposure to the public with many visitors in town. A group of Japanese dignitaries were very interested in the activities and the cameras were out in force. Local media took a huge interest and the club got good exposure on local television news broadcasts as well as on ABC Radio and local print media.

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The Dragons Head

SEPT 2016 May 2016

In recognition of the collaborative partnership between the NQ Phoenix Dragon Boat Club and the Townsville Chinese Club, Dr Wendy Li, President of the Townsville Chinese Club presented our club with a blank fabric panel to be decorated and returned for inclusion on the Community Dragon. This dragon was constructed over a 12 month period by the Townsville Chinese Club and features panels of multiple community and cultural groups in Townsville. The dragon represents the blending of cultures and working together with inclusivity and harmony. NQ Phoenix Dragon Boat Club has grown from the original 12 founding members last October to the present 30. The club expects to have two boats on the river very soon so the competition will really start at training then – as we all know two boats constitutes a race. The club now has a shed/clubhouse to house the two boats with a two level rack which makes storage so much easier. After training on Saturdays the group enjoys some fellowship with a cuppa and toast. Paddling on the Ross River is peaceful with the early morning start and afterwards the club offers free Give it a Go after club training - most weeks there are at least 1 or 2 newbies keen to try. For more pictures go to NQ Phoenix’s Facebook page or website: nqphoenixdragons.weebly.com

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

HERVEY BAY DRAGONS PADDLE THE ORD RIVER

Recently a team from Hervey Bay Dragon Boat Club traveled to Kununurra to take part in the annual ORD River marathon. The marathon is over a distance of 55 kms. What a great experience!!! The camaraderie between paddlers was great and the scenery was magnificent. That certainly helped to make the time go quicker and help keep our energy levels up. We had increased our training over the previous months for strength and endurance and were surprised how well we completed the course. The photo attached is the ‘after’ photo and we were all happy that we finished well. There were six boats participating, teams from Perth, Hobart, Orange, Hervey Bay, Kununurra. A South East Queensland composite team consisting of paddlers from Currumbin Waters, Broadbeach Waters, and Burpengary. Representing NSW there was teams from Banora Point, Hargraves, Marayong and Bradbury. There were also two surf boats and two single surf skis from Darwin. It certainly was a tough row for them as there were only 4 rowers in each of the surf boats but they finished well. The first section of the marathon was a lot of fun as the water was fast flowing (probably a speed of 10 km/per hour) so with paddling speeds on top of that, it made that section very fast. The third section was 15 km of slow water so that one was very hard work. Most of our team members came from Hervey Bay but we had the addition of one paddler from Cooloola and one from Dragons Abreast Gold Coast. Some of the team chose to drive and make an extended holiday of it and there were 6 who went by plane. It was a great excuse for all of us to travel to the Kimberley region and have a look around while there. I think I can speak for the whole team when I say it was a great achievement and well worth the trip.

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The Dragons Head

May 2016

TOWNSVILLE Dragonboat club

Townsville Dragon Boat Club Inc hosted the NQ Intercity Regatta on 15 May 16 at Loam Island. Competing clubs were: Spitfires Townsville Phoenix Townsville

Cairns Dragon Boat Club Stingers Mackay

Sweep Assessments were conducted resulting in two new sweeps in North Queensland. All paddlers conducted themselves in a sportsman like manner and moved to and from the marshal area in an efficient manner as a result the event was completed ahead of planned time. There were many new paddlers at the event and all had an exciting time. The winning club was Stingers from Mackay they travelled home with the new perpetual trophy, which was presented for the first time.

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

Congratulations

LAKERS

31 May 2016 Ms Judy New President Dragon Boat Queensland Dear Judy I am delighted to advise that our club, with your support has been successful in having received a grant from Round 87 of the Gambling Community Benefit Fund. This will enable us to purchase two new and much needed current generation dragon boats and a two boat trailer. The trailer is also an essential requirement as our boats have to be stored off-site. This new equipment will give our club additional enthusiasm and will enable the club to continue to provide improved facility for the community to participate in the great sport of Dragon Boating. We will be able to extend our services to the community as a whole and it will enable us to conduct special community group and corporate events which go to the enjoyment of those groups and enable our club to earn some much needed income. I am attaching a copy of a letter sent to the Gambling Community Benefit Fund expressing our appreciation. Peter Stevenson Fundraising Officer

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

NAVY CADETS

DB QLD Development Report for Naval Cadets Dragon Boat Session at Cressbrook Dam Saturday 30 April. Ross and I arrived at 11:45am to check the equipment and prepare for the session we found an incredible number of youngsters ready and keen to get out on the water. After lunch at 1:00pm Warren Gardner asked us to conduct our technique and safety briefing prior to getting on the water. When Lake Dyer arrived we were able to set crews for 3 boats with 2 Lake Dyer paddlers in stroke position in each boat with 2 sweeps from Lake Dyer and Ross on the 3rd boat After a warm up session, we commenced our work on water at 2:00pm. In total we had 50 participants 22 female, 28 male broken into the following - 34 juniors and 16 adults. I moved from boat to boat establishing timing drills and working on technique improvement. The crews worked well together and each boat improved their timing and boat speed within 20 mins of working together. We elected to stay on the water rather than go back to shore for afternoon tea, so we could prepare without interruption, for some race offs. We ran a best of 2 out of 3 races and in all fairness it was a pretty even match…given there were a number of paddlers using canoe paddles instead of dragon boat paddles. We completed the session at 5:00pm after a stretch out session for a bunch of sore and tired paddlers. All in all a very positive session and following on from correspondence from Warren & Penny Gardner we are welcome to return at any time to repeat the exercise. A big thank you to Stewart and the Lake Dyer crew for providing the third dragon boat, paddlers, sweeps and a number of extra paddles to allow us to get so many cadets on the water at one time. Thank you to DB QLD for their continued support of these types of activities. We believe a number of the adult participants expressed interest in joining the local Lake Dyer dragon boat club…a positive outcome if this eventuates. Maggie and Ross Boyce 4th May 2016.

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

Thank You Note From the Navy Cadets Toowoomba for the training session run by Maggie and Ross Boyce.

Thank you for taking the time to come to Lake Cressbrook to train the cadets from Australian Navy Cadets - TS Toowoomba. Cadet were also from TS Moreton Bay at Redcliffe, TS Paluma at Shorncliffe, TS Kookaburra cadet from Stanthorpe and 205 SQN Australian Air Force Cadets from Gatton. The cadets and staff had an educational day and a lots of FUN. You are always welcome to work with our cadet units. Regards Penny Gardner Lieutenant Commander ANC Flotilla Commander, Brisbane

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The Dragons Head A day in the life of a SWEEP

May 2016 SEPT 2016

by Lorna MacKenzie

It’s regatta day.  The paddlers are buzzing, the coach is confirming the race plan and shuffling people around at the last moment, and the sweeps seem to be just sitting back and watching the ant-like behaviour before them.  But the sweep is often doing more than you think. The sweep has walked the course.  The sweep has checked the weather.  The sweep has been to the morning briefing and hopes that everyone truly is on the same page.  The sweep has caught up with others, to see what’s been going on for them, when it comes to near misses and amusing training mishaps…..  And then this process gets repeated, sometimes several times throughout the day…… and it’s because they want to keep you all safe, get the best line of the day and ensure they do everything in their power to make the next race your BEST race of the day. The sweep stands in marshalling, remembering what race plan the coach has confirmed, checking how the conditions have changed in the last 30 minutes and once again, speaking with their fellow sweeps, to make sure we are all on the same page. “Are there P-Platers in the race????  Do they need support????  Do I need to give them a wide berth???  Just line up together gang…..  Let’s make this easy, for all of us….”  Just remember, a sweeps number 1 job is to Keep You All Safe!!!!! As a tenured sweep, I always jump at the opportunity to learn more, if I can.  After missing the last Sweeps Workshop, I was determined not to miss this one.  And I’m glad I didn’t. I always say that if I learn ONE new thing, then the day has been a success, but to walk away with a deeper understanding of the 2KM cornering rules, the updates to minimum night safety rules (That’s right, we are now going to look like coal miners, in the dark!), a clearer understanding on sweep levels and a good chance to meet other sweeps, means it was a huge success. It was great to see a vast range of sweeps, from levels 1-4 there and to hear the battle stories, from QLDs very first 2km race right through to the Nationals in Adelaide this year….  To be able to pull apart the scenarios and find the “best practice solutions” really helped to make the session real….. Also, to be able to keep going over tactics, until we got them cemented into our heads, meant that the newer sweeps really got an insight into what they could do, in the future…..  The biggest message conveyed over the whole day though was SAFETY, SAFETY, and SAFETY!!!!! And then we got to the moment in the day we were all waiting for……. The practical…….  OK….  So it was actually morning tea we were waiting for the most, but I think we were so interested in hearing examples and stories that we forgot about the time…..

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

Sweeps WorkShop

e t o N u o Y k n a h T To: DBQ DBQ Subject: Sweep Workshop Good Morning Our three Bribie Island ladies who attended the Sweep Workshop on Sunday wanted to thank DBQ very much for organising the event. The facilitator, Norm Hunt, was very informative and passionate in passing on his vast experience to the group. He kept us entertained in both the theory and practical segments of the workshop. Two of our ladies are novices and he certainly provided us with tools to improve our sweeping skills and gave us confidence to proceed to the assessment stage. Thanks again. Janet Brooks Vice President DABI

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

Ross d n a agg ie M m o r f A visit to CAIRNS

Dragon Boat Club

Saturday 25th June 08.00 am Cairns Dragon Boat Club   By about 8.30 am in excess of 27 members had arrived including 5 members of Townsville Phoenix and a BRD paddler visiting Cairns on holidays. Maggie spent approximately 30 minutes demonstrating the new Aurora’s technique the Cairns Club coaches had sighted when in Melbourne recently.   Two boats were loaded with Ross and Chris Bradbury helming, each taking 2 or 3 sweeps in the back two seats; whilst the experienced and newer paddlers shared positions throughout the boats. Maggie then sat on the bow of one of the boats and alternated between boats in this position most of the time on the water, when not moving through the boats critiquing paddlers individually. Both crews were taken to the “Pond” a safe and fairly still waterway for a number of drills. Continuous paddling sessions followed for the next 90 minutes which included video filming of all crew members.   After the water work all crew came ashore and moved to the the club shed for the video review. After the review with a few of the paddlers having to leave, only one full boat took to the water to put into practice what they had gained from the video review. During the last 30 minutes; on water “starts “ were practiced and Chris Bradbury (Coach CDBC) remained on shore to watch ; he was most impressed by the bow wake created by his members.. the first time ever..   12.30 pm  at the conclusion of the session the crew expressed their gratitude to both Maggie and I for taking the time out of our schedule to assist the club.  

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The Dragons Head

SEPT 2016 May 2016

on to g n i l l Trave

Trinity Bay Dragon Boat Club

    Sunday 26th June 08.30 am  Trinity Bay Dragon Boat Club   Travelled to Trinity Bay Dragon Boat Club stopping to let DBQ President Judy New out of the car at Cairns Dragon Boat Club with whom she had a meeting at 08.00. We visited the “Pond” where different skill sets were put into practice,after which a long session of continuous paddling and sweep interchanges took place..the boat running exceptionally well with only 8 paddlers. Similar to Saturday, the Trinity Bay Club had engaged a male friend to drive a a tinnie to conduct videoing of all crew. Upon completion of this we moved ashore after tying up the boat to a pontoon to view the filming.   With the paddlers now having an “Improved Skillset” we set off for another hour’s paddling..DBQ President Judy New  had returned to the Wooden Boat Shed in our absence and spent time discussing governance with TBDBC  President Donna Gray on our return.   After the session had finished and the gear all stowed away , a buffet lunch was prepared by the members of TBDBC.   Regards Ross and Maggie Boyce

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The Dragons Head DRAGONS ABREAST

May 2016 SEPT 2016

GOLD COAST

DAA NATIONAL REGATTA 17th/18th JUNE 2016

Dragons Abreast Gold Coast was fortunate to have a mixed squad of 42 paddlers to take to the DAA National Regatta held on the 17th and 18th of June at Kawana Waters. Our crew consisted of 23 pinkies and 19 supporters. We had paddlers from Dragons Abreast Mt Warning join us and our team name was “Gold Warning” Friday's first event was the 2,000m race commencing at 12:00 midday, with our team consisting of 10 Breast Cancer paddlers and 10 support paddlers. Our coach was happy with the race but wasn't confident after seeing New Zealand go out hard and smooth in their first 500. Gold Warning won the race by 0.01 of a second from New Zealand, that's just a flick of an eyelid.  The knockout competition (last man standing) followed. It was a lot of fun but a real test of fitness and determination, till we were the "last man standing". Saturday morning began with the heats of the 200m races for both Survivor and Supporter crews. Every paddler having at least 3 races, and drummers rotated in both crews. The Race of Remembrance and a very moving flower on the water ceremony followed, giving us all, time to reflect on family and friends affected by this insidious disease.  To see so many paddlers in the boats and many others on the shore in pink is an overwhelming reminder of Breast Cancer and the very reason why we were there.

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The Dragons Head

May 2016 SEPT 2016

After lunch the excitement grew as we warmed up for the finals. We were confident as we loaded and then paddled to the start line for the Supporters final and hopefully to bring home the Carol Waitohi Race of Remembrance trophy. The cheers and shouts coming from our supporters gave me Goosebumps and a lump in my throat. The determination of the crew was evident. We didn’t have 22 in our boat we had 23, Carol was with us. The conditions had changed from the mornings heats, a cross breeze had produced a bit of chop at the start, and in Wayne's words "it wasn't pretty but we did the job" and forged a great lead that was held to the finish. In our coaches words (Lozza) *I will never forget THAT finish, a howl of pride and relief from every paddler, followed by tears, as we did a wide lap around the bay. We had won the Carol Waitohi Race of Remembrance Trophy to bring back to our club on Currumbin creek.  Fantastic!!! However, now we had to race the pink final, so the girls took to the water in a great frame of mind, but unfortunately we were no match for that brilliant New Zealand team. Congratulations NZ we're coming after you.

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The Dragons Head

1770

May 2016 SEPT 2016

Ross d n a agg ie M m o fr A visit to

Report of Visit to 1770  Friday 17th to Tuesday 21st June 2016     Saturday  18th June  7.00am. An extra morning session had been arranged - at the Round Hill boat ramp Maggie and Ross were introduced to the members who were in attendance and explained the current technique being used by the Auroras’ ; a request previously made by the club in correspondence. In addition numerous other subjects Coach Jen had asked for were demonstrated on the land and in the boat.. 23 crew took to the water in a 20’s and 10’s boat for the next 3 hours. Maggie coached form the front of each boat guiding and critiquing whilst Ross stayed with a Provisional Sweep Jan on the back of the 20’s boat providing assistance. A family of 4 paddlers had driven from Tannum Sands to attend this session with one of the paddlers being a current Sonics member.   Saturday 18th June 3.30 pm for 4.00pm  Started another session  once again with 2 boats going out and some 26 members on board this being their normal training session as several crew could not attend the morning session due to work commitments. This time Maggie placed 8 members who hadn’t attended the morning session on the smaller boat and gave them each a one on one tutoring as per the morning work. Ross then coached the other boat from the front with stroke technique,starts, pyramid work and then several races over distances of 200 and 500 metres. At the end of the session both boats were brought together for a race with the 10’s crew excelling in the short time they had been under instruction.  The family who had driven down from Tannum Sands stayed the day and enjoyed the afternoon session as well.   Sunday  19th June 9.00 This time only 16 members turned up at the ramp due to the weather warning for coastal Queensland over night. The session was kept to a minimum of 75 minutes with most of this  in heavy rain and finishing early due to poor conditions.Unfortunately the sign on sheet was destroyed by the rain.   Monday 20th June 4.00pm  A contingent of 20 paddlers arrived for training and once again were split into 2 boats giving the sweeps extra practice as this week end had been the first time 2 boats had gone out at the same time.   Ross Boyce Level 5 Sweep Mentor BRD and Maggie Boyce Head Coach BRD, Senior C Aurora’s Coach

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The Dragons Head

Purchase by bank transfer: Bank of Qld, BSB 124-001, A/C No. 20413957, A/C Name: Redlands Sea Dragons Reference: Raffle & “your name” and send your details to Vicki, Email: [email protected] so she can send you your ticket numbers.

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May 2016 SEPT 2016