Southern Storm Paddle Club
League:
Dragon Boat Racing
State / Area:
VIC / Metro
Funding Requested
$1500
Voting has now finished.
Recipients will be announced on 6th June 2016.
About Southern Storm Paddle Club
Southern Storm Paddle Club was formed in 2012 by a group of enthusiastic and dedicated paddlers. Their intention was to create an inclusive and fun environment where people developed as paddlers, competitors and lasting bonds of friendship were made. We currently have a total of 40 members based at the Community Hub in Docklands. Southern Storm train on the Yarra River three times a week and aim to be competitive at the local, state and national level.
Value to the Community
Southern Storm brings together people from the local Docklands, inner Melbourne area and beyond. Our membership base is diverse in culture and background. In many ways our club becomes the community for a lot of our paddlers. Some are looking for a new challenge in a team environment and some are new to the country looking for active, like-minded people to spend time with. It's always difficult to plan training sessions and set up race crews with such varied backgrounds, levels of fitness and paddling experience, but our club culture is and always will be one of inclusivity. Everyone is welcome, everyone is challenged both physically and mentally to develop themselves and contribute to the club in any way they can.
Why the funds are needed
Southern Storm is a relativity new and small club. A Standard dragon boat seats 20 paddlers, however to optimise our training and better cater for each group of paddlers we believe a Small boat (seats 10 paddlers) is essential. It means we can split the crews in training and put either a small group of beginners or experienced paddlers together for a focused training session that is consistent with their skill level. It's not possible to put 7 or 8 paddlers in a standard boat, they are just too heavy, whereas in a small boat this is ideal. We recently competed in the 2016 Australian Dragon Boat Championship, placing 8th in the Mixed 500m race and 6th in the Mixed 2km race - overall a great result for a growing club. Storage for the boat has not been confirmed and is very limited in the Docklands area so our second preference would be to purchase new paddles. Many of our existing paddles are old, heavy and due for replacement. New paddles are lighter, more ergonomic and more uniformity in the paddles we train with will be very beneficial.
Links
Our website:
http://dragonboating.com.au/
Our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/southernstormpaddleclub/
Be sure to Like our Facebook page for news and updates.