There was no ques-tioning the popularity of dragon boating, with strong numbers giving it a go and taking to the water.
Secretary of the Armidale Dam Dragons Donna Sly was thrilled to finally see the boats out on the water after they were delivered on Saturday by Dragon Boats NSW CEO Melanie Cantwell.
“A group of friends got together about six months ago and we got chatting about dragon boating and thought we might check it out,” Donna said.
“A couple of weeks later, we went to Urunga for a regatta and met Melanie from Dragon Boats NSW who told us all about it and what we would need to do to start a club. We thought about it for a while and decided to go ahead with it.”
CEO of the Armidale Ex-Services Club Bob Ryan, who attended the club’s first meeting, was really excited about the project, initially getting on board to sponsor the club for the hire of a dragon boat for a year.
“Dragon Boats NSW came up with two boats that were for sale and then the Armidale Ex-Services Club decided to buy the boats for us, which was amazing,” said Donna.
All complete novices, it has been a huge learning curve for club members but, as CEO of Dragon Boats NSW Melanie Cantwell pointed out, no prior water skills are needed.
“That’s the wonderful thing about Dragon Boating, it is a sport that anybody of any physical fitness and ability can actually do,” said Melanie.
“It is a very community and family orientated sport and a lot of the time, in our regional community clubs, they have three generations of a family all competing and that is a wonderful thing.
“The Armidale Dam Dragons are now the 59th club registered with Dragon Boats NSW and the only Dragon Boat club in the New England.
“I am very jealous of the Armidale Dam Dragons to have such a wonderful waterway like Malpas Dam to paddle on, it is just beautiful,” said Melanie.
“We obviously do have a lot of clubs along the coast but we do have clubs to the west – in Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst, Lithgow, Forbes, Wagga and amazingly we do have Lake Jindabyne, who are called the Snow Dragons. Certainly our inland waterways and dams, since we have had quite substantial rainfall, is opening itself back up to dragon boating.”
The Armidale Dam Dragons are still in their infancy and as yet do not have a website. However, if you are interested in dragon boating and would like to give it a try, call Donna Sly at the Armidale Ex-Services Club on 6776 0800.
