The Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Club is hard at work on our annual Recruitment Drive.The Recruitment Drive is used to spread the word about Dragon Boating and help find new paddlers for the coming season. This year the drive is concentrating on finding new paddlers to create a novice Ladies Only and novice Seniors Team (55+) to add to the existing mixed teams and our Juniors. Don't worry if you do not fit into Ladies Only or a Senior Team mould, our existing teams will also be recruiting to fill spots and bolster their teams. There will be room for everyone.

The Recruitment Drive usually consists of three or more Community Events followed by a Free Open Paddle. The following events have been planned (with additional ideas to be confirmed at a later date) : 

• Home, Leisure and Outdoor Show - January 29th to 31st at Heritage Park in Chilliwack
• Fraser Valley Women's Show - March 5th to 7th at Heritage Park 
• Cottonwood Mall Community Booth (April 3rd 2010).

We will couple these community events with radio, television and newspaper interviews. The Recruitment Drive will finish up with a free Community Open Paddle to be held on the main beach in Harrison Hot Springs (check out the map for location) April 10th from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

What To Expect 

So, what should you look forward to when you come out to the Open Paddle? All participants will need to fill out some paper work (a waiver) before getting into one of our three dragon boats, so please show up a few minutes early. The Open Paddle will consist of a short history lesson about Dragon Boating and about our club. We will continue on with some on-land training (stroke techniques) and a vocabulary lesson and then off to the boats we go. One of our 4 captains will take you out in the boat, give you some basic instructions and allow you to paddle the boat around the lake. We will then get you back on land and give you the opportunity to talk with members of the five existing teams. This also gives us the ability to answer any questions you may have. 

Please remember that Dragon Boating is a water sport and you may get wet. Please dress according to the weather. We recommend layers if it is a little on the cool side. Neoprene gloves are also recommened. The Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Club will supply PDF's and paddles.  

We are looking forward to a very successful season and we hope to see you all on the water with us. If you have any other questions please drop us an This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .