New Brunswick’s natural beauty offers ample opportunity for recreation.
But when avid kayaker Lisa Porter returned to her hometown of Woodstock in 2021, after teaching for 20 years in Ontario, she was perplexed by the lack of recreational water activity she noticed on the town’s two rivers, the Saint John and the Meduxnekeag.
“When I moved back here, I was kayaking and I was like, how come nobody’s on the water here? What’s going on,” said Porter, who teaches at Woodstock High School. “So, I thought, if I’m going to teach at Woodstock High, I can start a dragon boat team there.”
Be the change you want to see
“I just decided to go for it. I did my coaching accreditation and started a not-for-profit here called the Woodstock Paddling Club” in 2023.
In addition to wanting to see more people enjoying the rivers, Porter started the club to break the hold electronic devices have on young people. “They spend a lot of time on screens, so I think it’s very helpful to get kids out on the water. It’s good for their mental health, good for their physical health.”
“Our goal at the Woodstock Paddling Club is to increase community spirit and bonding by getting people talking and knowing each other, while getting them out in nature and [improving] fitness. So, this is a sport that does all those things and what drew me to it was that it was so inclusive,” she said.
And inclusivity features quite prominently in the Woodstock Paddling Club. Following the initial youth team comprised of Woodstock High School students, Porter started a seniors team for people 60 years old and older. There were 25 registered senior participants this past summer.
“One of the seniors wrote to me and said, ‘you know what’s great? I had a heart surgery not too long ago and I could paddle, and I felt strong’,” he said. “I really do love that we can bring all sorts of ages and abilities.”
What is Dragon Boat Racing?
“Originating in ancient China, Dragon Boat Racing is now the fastest growing water sport in the world and a favourite among charities and corporations for its fundraising and team-building benefits.
Crews of up to 16 people sit in pairs and paddle to compete in races over distances of around 250m. Each boat has a drummer beating time to keep the paddlers in unison, and a professional helmsperson in the stern to guide the boat.
Dragon boating is a fun-filled, adrenaline pumping, water sports activity. Teams compete in Dragon Boats, which are large canoe-like vessels fitted with ornately carved dragon’s heads and tails.”
– Dragon Boat Events Ltd (UK)
Participants come in all different sizes, ethnicities, economic backgrounds, and physical abilities, said Porter, “We’ve had some students, for example, that are on the autism spectrum that maybe haven’t been a part of any sports teams before.”
The club received permission from the town to use the wharf on the Meduxnekeag behind New Brunswick Community College. Additionally, it uses a boat shed built by NBCC construction students.
The race is on
Three weeks after its inception in September 2023, the youth team was on the water and racing. Porter took a team of 15 students—enough to fill one boat—to Saint Andrews’ Race by the Sea Dragon Boat Festival on September 23 of that year. This past September, because of the popularity of the program, she took 45 students—three boats worth—to the same festival.
“After going to my first event, my favourite thing became the energy and community created by the sport,” said Woodstock High School Grade 12 student Owen Jordan. “All the teams painting their faces and creating cheers was so interesting to see, as no other sport I’ve ever participated in made me feel as connected to the teams and community.”
Beginning this year, the paddling season for youth ran from May to roughly the end of September. But training and dragon boat-related activities happen in the off season.
“I booked the pool at our community centre because the water was too cold outside to go paddling, so we would meet at six o’clock in the morning at the pool,” said Porter of spring training sessions where students practiced paddling, memorizing commands, and did other exercises while sat beside the pool.
Students begin participating in races during the late spring and even during the summer, when they are on vacation. “I know it’s a lot to ask them to keep competing and coming to a practice when they’re not in school anymore, but they did.”
“I absolutely loved that this was a big team sport and we all had to work together to achieve our goal,” said Quinn Jones, a Grade 11 student at Woodstock High School.
A senior workout
Like the students, the senior paddlers must also exercise before they hit the water.
“For the students, we’re playing chase games and tag games, and doing all sorts of things,” said Porter. “With the seniors, I spend more time doing things with resistance bands and partner workouts to warm up muscles, joints, and things like that.”
Senior paddler Gloria Yachyshen loves the physical challenge paddling offers her: “I wanted to prove to myself that at my age, there are unanticipated benefits to trying something new. I love of the outdoors, the fresh air, and I had a desire to be on the water.”
Once on the water, Porter said the senior paddlers tend to take things a bit slower than the youth paddlers: “We spend more time with the seniors catching our breath in between strokes and maybe bird watching or enjoying nature, like kind of looking at what’s going on around us and taking it all in. But the high school students just want to race.”
The future
During the off-season, the club will be raising funds to participate in next May’s Moncton Dragon Boat Festival, proceeds of which benefit the Lions Sick Children’s Fund. They will also host the July 1st Floats Festival in Woodstock on Canada Day.
“We’re going to be doing some fundraising through the winter term, maybe a couple of team-building events. Then come spring, we’ll be back at the pool,” Porter said. “We’ll do our swim tests and then we’ll start paddling.”