Spring and early summer are the primary recruiting times of new athletes for our club. While one can indeed paddle year round in southern California, the water in the Ventura Harbor gets cold enough that only the very hardy would consider a sport where one is likely to be swimming a fair amount of the time at the start.
Just before our local school district went on Spring Break, the club had presentations at Cabrillo Middle School over two separate Mondays for every physical education class, showing them videos of races and providing information about both our club and the sport. We then offered a class during Spring Break, but surprisingly, did not net any new members from that effort. .
Our next membership push will be the first four weekends of this summer with the goal of getting 4 to 5 new youth members for the club. It’s difficult to have more than that given it takes time for people to master their balance well enough to safely paddle with our more experienced paddlers and progress to the racing boats from our “beginner” boats.
Club members will be attending the US Nationals this summer! We’ve already booked flights, housing, and have worked to get boats lined up so that we can compete at Lake Lanier outside of Atlanta, Georgia the first week in August. With the Nationals now on our calendars, workouts and training has taken on new meaning and focus.
Look for our report on Nationals in our next update.
