Dragon boat paddle, gear stolen before competition

National team member set to compete in Thailand at world championships

A member of Canada’s national dragon boat team has only a few weeks to replace her stolen gear before heading to a global competition in Thailand.

Edmonton nurse Rhonda Ball was working a night shift Thursday when she discovered the passenger window of her car parked near 101 Street and 110 Avenue had been smashed in.

Thieves had made off with her gear, including her 48-inch paddle, its carrying case, a saddle pad for the boat bench, and her personal flotation device. The paddles range in price from $200 to $400 and are often shipped overseas to Canada from Asia.

Ball has been paddling for years and most recently was training for the International Dragon Boat Federation’s world dragon boat racing championships in Thailand, which run Aug. 20-25.

“It’s just kind of unfortunate since I made the Canadian national team for dragon boat this year,” she said, noting the stolen paddle is a competitive tool that’s familiar to her — but teammates have been rallying to help replace it and other items.

“It’s not good timing at all. I know the feel of it when it is in the water and how it works because handles can be different, the weight can be different.”

With the competition so close, Ball said there’s no time to order a new one. She doesn’t expect her paddle will be returned and plans to borrow one and maybe buy a new one in Thailand if she has to.

“I really don’t think the person who stole it knew necessarily what it was because it was in a bag,” she said.

Beyond the paddle, “there really wasn’t much in there.”

Ball started dragon boat racing about 14 years ago after a friend introduced her to the sport. She fell in love with the activity that runs year-long — on paddling machines in the winter months — out of the Edmonton Dragon Boat Racing Club facility at 102 Avenue and 87 Street, near Dawson Bridge.

“It’s good exercise, it’s a team sport and it’s outside,” she said. “You meet a lot of really great people.”

IAN KUCERAK Rhonda Ball had her dragon boat paddle stolen from her car on Thursday, just a few weeks before she’s scheduled to go to Thailand to compete as part of Canada’s national team.