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20 economist sunsuntribune recreation saturday may 27 2006 the georgina damselflyers are all smiles after a race at the ati dragon boat festival at seneca colleges king campus in support of united way of york region last summer this years event goes aug 19 staff photobill roberts casual corporate competitors to fanatic paddlers can team up on the water this summer in york events by mike hayakawa staff writer d rying to build team morale looking for a new challenge some companies have found a way to do it through dragon boat racing a fun competitive and fit nessbuilding activity in york region dragon boats are afloat on lake wilcox as the richmond hill canoe club keeps two vessels at its training site dragon boat racings popularity has taken off in recent years as asian immigrants brought their traditions along stouffyille res ident and club regatta chairperson doug northey said teamwork is so important to the sport more corporations have taken an interest by sponsoring vessels and having employees manning the ship it caters to the fanatic as well as the casual paddler and it has a tremendous range of ages and its coed mr northey said you can be on a competitive or non competitive team and the sport caters to people of different skill levels said belinda lyn a teacher at father michael mcgivney catholic academy in markham and a mem ber of the scotia rouge team paddling out of the west rouge canoe club introduced to the sport during her uni versity days ms lyn noted competitors can be part of a mixed team or compete in divi- sions of men women over40 masters squads and entries paddling for a cause such as breast cancer noting her team has 20 paddlers a drum mer and cox along with four reserves ms lyn said that leads to a highly social atmos phere just as important the skills arent difficult to learn and can be mastered in short order mr northey said what is critical though is everybody being on the same page when paddling ms lyn said you dont want to be like a caterpillar where everyone is out of sync she said the outdoor season begins in the next month and some of the more competitive teams have already begun training ms lyn noted her club which is taking to the water in four or five festivals this season began training just before christmas once a week team members do pool paddling at the mississauga canoe club or running and weight training at variety village in scarborough other teams might start up when the weather warms up and they can get on the water she said once their boat is in the water ms lyns squad trains three times a week sometimes distance paddling and sometimes going short spans races she said are usually 500metre events but others can be as short as 200m or as long as 6000m your entry fee includes training sessions you can stay in york region and check out the dragon boat scene thanks to the rich mond hill canoe club its holding a regatta june 11 for 35 per person entry fee is maximum 700 per crew you get two training sessions until june 9 and three races on race day all equipment is provided club regatta chairperson doug northey said adding close to half the crews are novices just out for a day of fun most of the crews are community based such as high schools or the york regional police force you can live the experience and pick their brains he said for further information check out wwwrhcconca another event takes place aug 19 at seneca college king campus 13990 dufferin st in king city with the running of the third annual ati dragon boat festival in support of the united way twentysix teams entered last year event spokesperson tracey mccaguemcelrea noted entrants must be 16 or older one partici pant last year was in his 70s the distance is 250m and every boat is guaranteed a minimum of three races for more information check out wwwunitedwayyorkre- gioncom or contact ms mccaguemcelrea at dragon- eveirogerscom or 9057757803 the corporate element can be important when it comes to buying a boat paddles and life jackets often that leaves only registra tion fees for people to pay while more corporations and adults are catching on to the sport so are youngsters st robert catholic high school in thorn- hill has had a dragon boat racing team for eight years its fanatical at our school head coach edith low said introduced to the sport six years ago when a teachers dragon boat team needed new talent ms low cited the large asian population at her school as a prime reason for launching the team other schools such as thornlea sec ondary and richmond hill high have caught the dragon boat bug at st robert about 200 students from grades 9 to 12 attend trials in september students go through a rigid routine in which they must do hundreds of pushups crunches rowing tests longdistance run ning and all kinds of teambuilding things ms low said the kids can become physically fit and its a sport where anyone can try out and has a chance of making it its asport you can become obsessed with by march the team is down to 55 a 5050 gender balance plus a drummer all outfitted with uniforms once the boats are launched she said the team pares down dryland sessions to once a week using the other practice day at sunny- side park in toronto here for opinions hey leaf fans youre suckers im not sure if there are any sports fans in the world as stupid as toronto maple leaf fans and you know what the corporate suits that own the franchise are counting on that as they count their millions yorkregion eom it clicks home they know that no matter what kind of pathetic product they throw on the ice at the air canada centre theyll fill every seat and next year when they suit up another team of losers theyll do it again youll find the rest of the story in johns blog on yorkregioncom read john slykhuis in the right in our blogs section iuull v u ruiiuiiiinii rvm niiuuff 111 11 11 if