Alberta South Zone:  Dragon Boat Team

By Todd Crosby
Alberta South Zone Governor
  

This past August 7-8 weekend members of the Alberta South Zone had the opportunity to participate in the Annual Dragon Boat Races in Calgary.  At the urging of one of the City Centre club members, Heather Gardiner, the Alberta South registered a team in the Dragon Boat Races and inaugurated a new challenge race for the ‘Progress Club’.  The race was open to any service club or charitable organization and will be held every year at the Dragon Boat races.  The zone has purchased a trophy for presentation to the winning team.  It’s great PR to have a race with the Progress name on it.

The goal of participating in this event was to raise the profile of Progress in the Calgary area.  We were extremely successful in doing so.  We had interviews with A-Channel TV as well as newspaper and radio interviews all weekend.  The Progress name was front and centre all weekend to the other 400 participants and hundreds of spectators.  As an added bonus, we were able to make contact with some excellent potential sponsors for our other Progress events in Calgary.

The challenge was put out to the seven Alberta South Zone clubs as we needed 24 club members to volunteer, as paddlers and to coach, as well as some financial support.  The Bow River Boys, the Downtown guys and the girls from City Centre jumped at the opportunity, not just with people but with some cash.  My sincerest thanks to these three clubs for their Progress spirit.

It was not simply going out and racing for the two days of the Festival and races.  We had to practice for the three weeks prior to the event.  Great dedication shown by all the paddlers and our Coach Heather.  We were in six races, including the Progress Cup.  Although we did not win, we were very competitive and if nothing else, we looked good!

In closing, I would like to thank all of our paddlers:  Karen Politsky, Bob Schulz, Terry Clarke, Trevor Jones, James Savage, Trevor Schulz, Bruce Lyle, Renee Mullins, Linda Armstrong, David Hird, Allen MacQueen, Fraser Kyle, Mike Hayduk, Gary McCowan, Janet Miller, Michelle Roussin, Nancy Tucker, Janet Chafe, Todd Crosby, Myke Esayenko, Shelagh Barichello, and Linett Lawlor.  In particular I would like to thank Heather Gardiner, who not only ran the Dragon Boat festival, but she coached our team.  She also managed to secure Shawn Samol as our steersman/coach and we hope to have Shawn as a member of Progress soon.  Thanks, as well to Karen Politsky for organizing and getting our vests and making us the best looking team both on and off the water, and to Cheryl Hayduk who helped as a Manager at the last minute.