Powerhouse Dragon Boat Racing Club & Middlesbrough Outrigger Canoe Club
Once again Powerhouse paddlers have won an impressive medal haul in a major international event. This time at the European Championships in Racice (near Prague) in the Czech Republic.
Next: Onwards to the 12th IDBF World Nations Championships in Welland (Niagara), Canada.
This year we have all been busy in front of the watersports centre converting our old club boat into a memorial planter in remembrance of Powerhouse dragonboaters who have sadly passed away:
– Ernie Butterfield ex Hartlepool Powerman & later Powerhouse helm passed away 30th April 2010.
– Dot Hart GB Senior ladies gold medal winner & Powerhouse paddler, passed away 22nd September 2012 after a very long battle with cancer.
An inscribed brass plaque will be mounted to the front of the dragonboat planter.
Hear Allyson talk about Dragonboats and Powerhouse on Radio 2
Hundreds of people lined the banks at the Durham University Queens Campus to watch the spectacular Diwali show of lights and colour, including the Powerhouse boat and crew dressed up and lit up specially for the occasion.
Read up further about the event:
Story of Diwali brought to life at festival of light in Stockton
Festival of light and colour makes a return to Stockton
An invitation to create some smoke on the water…………..
The Chinese New Year of the dragon commenced on 23 January and the dragon’s element sign for this year is water so what better way to celebrate than to take up the Chinese national sport of dragon boating. Dragon boat racing has ancient Chinese origins and its history goes back more than 2,000 years.
Powerhouse Dragonboat Club is based at the River Tees Water Sports Centre in Dugdale Street on the North Shore of the River Tees and they are looking for new members to train and take part in the British Dragonboat Association’s national league racing events. Racing is a colorful and exciting affair with dragon boats dressed with fierce dragon heads & tails. Drums are beaten to time the stroke rate and you can almost imagine smoke emitting from the dragons flared nostrils!
The first event of the racing season is on 21 April and a planned series of events culminates with a national cup at the National Water Sports Centre at Nottingham in late September or early October. Powerhouse will actually be hosting a national 2 day league event on the River Tees on 4 & 5 August this year.
Through the winter months training aims to get the crew fitter and stronger and more powerful with one river session on a Saturday morning. Once British Summer time begins the crew is on the river twice a week to practice technique and improve stroke rates and race times.
A crew consists of 22 members, comprising 10 pairs of paddlers, a drummer (cox) and a helm (steer). Powerhouse crew members range in age from ten to 60, with a mix of both males and females; it is for everyone to enjoy.
The Powerhouse Dragonboat crew will be in Captain Cook Square in Cleveland Centre, Middlesbrough, on Saturday 17th March and will have one of their dragonboats on display so you can go along and see what it’s all about.
So if your New Year’s resolution was to get fitter, take up a hobby or sport, lose weight – then dragon boating could be for you. Anyone who would like to give paddling a go can try two free separate taster sessions on a Saturday morning from 10.00 am.
For more information, call 07504 063023
The Stockton BDA Leauge event meets the Stockton International Riverside Festival!
See the flyer for more details:
[gview file=”http://www.powerhousedragons.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/EventBrouchure2012.pdf” height=”1200px” width=”100%” save=”1″ force=”1″]
Teessiders will soon be able to learn to paddle indoors – and then take to the Tees for real and try paddling for their local club – thanks to a new National Lottery-funded project.
Powerhouse Dragonboat Club will be holding weekly ‘come and try’ coaching sessions at the River Tees Watersports Centre, followed by open water training in a full size Dragonboat. The sessions are intended to attract more people to the club – ahead of the 2012 season.
The new sporting opportunities have been made possible by a £9,000 grant from Sport England – which is working with local communities to get people playing more sport.
Bryan Tucker, Powerhouse Dragonboat Club's Assistant Coach, said:
“Powerhouse Dragonboat Club is a vibrant local club but we’re always looking to attract more members. Our project is opening up our club and giving people in Teesside the opportunity to get involved no matter what the weather throws at us. We’re delighted to have received Lottery funding to make it all happen.”
Sport England invests National Lottery and Exchequer funding in projects that will grow and sustain participation in grassroots sport and create opportunities for people to excel at their chosen sport.
David Gent, Sport England’s Regional Lead for Yorkshire, said:
“The opportunity to try a new sport for the first time is often all a person needs to catch the sporting bug. The Paddlesports Coaching Project is a great way for young people to try Dragonboating and get a quality sporting experience that will encourage them to stay involved.”
This summer, England will be hosting the European Dragon Boat Championships at Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre in Nottingham, from Thursday 26th- Sunday 29th July 2012.
According to the European Dragon Boat Federation (EDBF), "entries have been received from the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and the Ukraine. Entries are also expected or possible from Austria, Belgium, France, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland. The total number of participants notified is over 1200."
Supported by the Nottinghamshire County Council, racing distances will be over 200m, 500m and 2000m in Standard IDBF.
And we are delighted to announce that one of Powerhouse's very own – Bryan Tucker, has been selected to paddle for Great Britain!!
He'll be paddling for the Seniors, and has been training for the best part of a year to achieve this. Clearly all that hard work has paid off! We will all be cheering on Great Britain, but especially Bryan. Many of us will be there in Nottingham, waving our Union Jacks and drinking warm beer!
Congratulations and Go Bryan!
Check out the current entries here:
https://dragonboat.pl/ems.idbf/InformationTables.php?event_id=26
Powerhouse Dragonboat club are welcoming people to come along to give it a try and join in the fun. Dragon boating is an exciting and fast growing water sport in the UK which unlike many other sports is open to all ages and abilities. The powerhouse bunch is a very mixed bag with male and female members ranging from 11 to 63 years of age from all walks of life. Dragon boating has a very strong team ethos as each boat consists of a crew of 20 paddlers, 1 drummer and 1 helm so it has a great social side to it as well.
The club is busy starting to train for the coming racing season so now would be a great time to get involved, our training base is the river tees water sports centre and we train on the river most Saturdays, paddling along some surprisingly picturesque stretches of the river tees. With gym and circuit sessions at the fully equipped centre during the week for those who feel the need for the burn!
So before you sign up to that monthly gym subscription ask yourself if you’d prefer a low cost, no obligation, friendly and very fun way to get fit this year.
For more details contact: 07504 063023