Paddling ends until spring

Cougar Dragon paddling has ended for the season. Dark, rainy, ever shortening days signal the coming of winter. Time to keep warm and think of the sunnier days of spring when we will be saying 'Paddles Up' once again. Winter conditioning will begin in January for the really committed, and paddling will recommence in March. Our thanks to Coach Todd and Coxswain Steven for coming out and supporting our autumn paddles. Look for more updates as the winter progresses. Check back often.

New Cougar Dragons Make a Splash

At our first practice we had 8 new paddlers try out the sport of Dragon Boat racing. Welcome! Since our award winning inaugural season last spring word has spread about how much fun DB racing is. The Killarney Dragon Boat Racing Club is the THE place to be! We welcome and encourage all Cougars, from grades 8 to 12, to join us and give DB a try.

Coaches Todd Wong and Steven Wong are back with us and Modern Languages teacher Ms. Greer has also volunteered to help out on the water. Ms. Greer is a very experienced Dragon Boat racer who paddles with the Abreast in a Boat club.

Anyone interested must see Mr. Mackinnon in rm A226 before paddling. Waivers, parental permission and information forms must be signed before anyone can go on the water.

We will be paddling regularly on Wednesday afternoon for the fall season. 4:15 @ the Dragon Zone. Hope to see you there!

Autumn Splash for Cougar Dragons

Killarney Cougar Dragons dive into autumn paddling this Thursday (13th September) at 4:15 @ the Dragon Zone. Everybody is welcome.

September 11 meeting

All Cougar Dragons and those interested in paddling with us should attend an organizational meeting to talk about fall paddling:

When: Tuesday, 11 September @ Noon
Where: Room A226 - new wing beside the staircase (Ms. Jaye's old room/next to Mr. Reppenhagen's)

Calling All Cougar Dragons!

I hope everybody is having a great summer. August just seems to be rolling along a little quicker than I had imagined...so we won't be getting together until school starts. Coach Todd has agreed to take us on for the autumn season and prepare us for a couple of events. Our first meeting will be in the 2nd week of school and hopefully we can get on the water that week as well. Keep a watch out for an e-mail detailing the times.

In the meantime, I hope you can all get down for the Taiwanese races. There is a need for volunteers at the festival too. Why not give them a call and do something fun for the end of summer. See the posting below for links and more information.

2007 Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races

The 2007 Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races will once again be held at False Creek. This will be the Fifth Annual Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races held in conjunction with the Taiwanese Cultural Festival Sept 1-3, 2007. More information on the Taiwanese Cultural Festival can be found at their website www.canadatcf.com ।

The Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races feature dragon boat racing with a mixed fleet including Taiwanese Dragon Boat Racers. Always great prizes and awards. Coming back this year will be the popular Fun Races including the ever popular barrel racing first introduced to Canada during the 2004 Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races.

Crouching Cougars, Hidden Dragons

Back row: Steven Wong (coxswain), Deborah Gee, Irene Peng, Linda Chen, Michele Shi, Taylor Yee, Sally Chan, Dipa Barua, Eddie Ha, Cherry Chen, Garry Ly, Wayne Li, and Garvin Pang.

Front row: Mr. Mackinnon (Manager/coach), Chi Hsi, Justin Yee, Christine Chin (den mother), Aleck Pham and Justin Chow.

Missing: Coach Todd Wong, Caitlin Allum, Jenny Tan, Jordan Lee, Jordan Wong, Krystal Han and Stanley Tsia.

Just 12 weeks ago I had the idea of a Dragon Boat Racing team at Killarney. Less than 2 weeks later we had enough interest to put a team together and form the Killarney Dragon Boat Racing Club. With amazingly generous support from KPAC we were able to start practicing in April and eight short weeks later entered Killarney’s first team, the Cougar Dragons, in the Alcan International Dragon Boat Festival—one of the world’s premier Dragon Boat events.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dragon Boat Racing, this is a team sport where 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steersperson, race others over a distance of 500 meters. The boats are long and heavy, but brute strength isn’t what it takes to win. Teamwork is everything in Dragon Boat Racing. Synchronicity is more important than strength. A perfectly synchronized team will almost always beat a stronger, but less coordinated team. 20 paddlers, 10 on each side, paddling in complete synchronicity, paddles going up and down, in and out, in perfect harmony, will always beat a stronger boat that lacks the oneness.

22 Killarney students joined the team, and for eight weeks came out on Tuesday afternoons to the Dragon Zone (False Creek, just behind Science World) to learn about this ancient Chinese sport. We were blessed with the coaching expertise of Todd Wong, coach of two adult teams, and founder of the Gung Haggis Fat Choy multicultural dinner, and with the steering prowess of Steven Wong, a member of the Gung Haggis Dragon Boat team.

Like any new endeavour the learning curve was sharp. None of us had very high expectations, for after all this was our first year. Of the 22 students, none had been in a Dragon Boat before, and very few had been on the water at all. But with hard work and determination, we were going to put Killarney on the map and prove to everyone that we were a team with heart.

Dragon Boat racing is a lot like life. It takes heart, grit and teamwork to succeed. We would need to keep our focus inside the boat, not worry what anyone else is doing, and remember to do what we love, and love what we do. The 22 members certainly had all three of these essential ingredients.

We were seeded towards the bottom as we entered the Alcan. We would compete in four races over two days, and in the final heat would race for honour and medals. As expected on Saturday the more experienced teams pushed ahead, but the Cougar Dragons were not despondent. The team kept their heads and focussed their hearts on the goal. We were finally seeded into the ‘D’ division final on Sunday afternoon. And now the little team that knew they could, put all of their heart, all of their grit and all of their teamwork into one final race. I can’t describe the whole race here, but suffice it to say it was one of the most exciting races I have ever seen. The team sprang out of the start and pushed ahead. The race was tight from beginning to end. With 100 meters left to go, Killarney was in third place but catching up fast. Somehow the paddlers found that reserve from within and gave it their all and passed their nearest rivals just before the finish line to place an amazing 2nd. Many teams come to the Alcan for years without ever earning a medal. Killarney came home with silver at our first!

Congratulations and thank you to Aleck Pham, Caitlin Allum, Cherry Chen, Linda Chen, Chi Hsi, Deborah Gee, Dipa Barua, Eddy Ha, Garry Ly, Garvin Pang, Irene Peng, Jenny Tan, Jordan Lee, Jordan Wong, Justin Chow, Justin Yee, Krystal Han, Michele Shi, Sally Chan, Stanley Tsia, Taylor Yee, and Wayne Li for showing the world what it means to belong to Killarney. Thanks to Coach Todd Wong and Steersman Steven Wong for your help and support. An extra special BIG thank you to the KPAC—without you we couldn’t have done it. We all look forward to a new season and more successes on the water and off as the Cougar Dragons prepare for the future.

For more pictures of the KDBRC go here.

And a final word... I would like to personally thank the KPAC, Coach Todd, Coxswain Steven and especially all the Cougar Dragons for their heart, grit and teamwork. This is why I became a teacher. You are the BEST!

Stuart Mackinnon, Sponsor/Manager
Killarney Dragon Boat Racing Club