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Paddling season starts with dragon boats

The Yorkton Canoe and Kayak Club is getting ready for the 2019 season, and they’re eager to get people into boats and paddling again.

The Yorkton Canoe and Kayak Club is getting ready for the 2019 season, and they’re eager to get people into boats and paddling again. Their first event of the year, the indoor Dragon Boat competition, is all about getting people back into the rhythm with paddles in their hand.

Taking place at the Access Communications Water Park in the Gallagher Centre, the  competition works as a tug-of-war, as teams of four attempt to push the dragon boat to the edge of the pool.

“They’re really fighting for inches. The teams that are stronger will sometimes push the boat back a little bit further. It’s a battle of strength, it’s a battle of just speed,” said coach Jessica Riley.

The goal is to start the season earlier, said Riley and get people more aware of what they are doing at York Lake. A big goal for the club is to get new people in boats, and this year’s race achieved that goal, with only one team having done it before.

“That’s the fun of it. You don’t actually walk in with a lot of experience, you can just try it and see how it goes.”

The competition started in 2018, inspired by a similar event in Winnipeg. It was initially an experiment, but they got more people on the water and joining the club, which made it a success. The word of mouth continued to this year, with more teams and rowers participating, building the club.

There are Dragon Boat festivals in Regina and Saskatoon, and Riley said that they want to get people exposed to the sport in case they want to compete in those festivals. The club lets people explore the sport, and connects them to larger clubs if they are interested.

“We kind of consider ourselves a gateway for them to figure out if they enjoy the sport, in a safe environment.”

While they might be a gateway now, Riley said that their eventual goal is to get the club to compete as Yorkton in the larger festivals.  

This year’s event saw a partnership with Brayden Ottenbreit’s Close Cuts for Cancer, and money raised will go to the charity. This year, their Local Initiatives Fund will see money go to new digital mammography equipment. Riley said that it’s a nice way to have it as something larger than the club itself.

Paddling at York Lake begins just after the May Long Weekend, as soon as the lake is ready, with after school programming, open from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. The full summer programs start in July and August. The events for the club are on their website at yorktoncanoekayakclub.com.