Eternal Dragons pumped to paddle at False Creek fest this weekend
Popular school team has been in motion on the ocean for almost three decades
The inaugural Eric Hamber secondary dragon boat team must have known something.
Founded in 1989, the team had a vote on a name for its boat and settled on Eternal Dragon.
Nearly three decades later, the Hamber team is still going strong. They ’re one of 30 or so junior-level teams in B.C., and they’re locked in to compete this weekend at the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival at False Creek.
“That was the name the kids wanted that year and Judy Chan, who was the first coach, went along with it,” said Dominic Lai, a former Hamber student who is the Eternal Dragon’s head coach these days, along with having ties to the national and provincial associations.
“(Judy’s) still coaching with us and she laughs about it now. She talks about how it fits because this won’t ever end at Hamber.”
Lai believes the Eternal Dragon is the longest running junior team outside of Asia.
They routinely attend world championships.
For instance, a team of 23 paddlers from Hamber won 12 medals, including eight gold, at the 2014 International Dragon Boat Federation Club crew world championships in Ravenna, Italy.
There are 90 students involved in the sport at the Vancouver school these days, and there are now three boats, with the Eternal Dragon being the main one.
Parents of paddlers joined in last year, naming their own boat the Eternal Dinosaur.
“They decided they wouldn’t let the kids have all the fun,” said Lai.
Lai believes the sport at the high school level attracts high-end athletes because of the opportunity to rise through the ranks and compete internationally.
He also thinks it can bring in people for their first organized sporting experience because “everyone is starting at the same spot and everyone gets a fair shot to get better.”
Lai started at Hamber in 2006, began paddling in 2008 and graduated from Hamber in 2011. He started coaching at the school the following year.
“It’s something that’s approachable on a lot of levels,” said Lai.
He’s not the only former Eternal Dragon competitor who’s come back to coach either. Another is Hamber teacher Alex Stevens.
“Not a whole lot has changed from the years ago that I was doing it,” said Stevens.
“It’s the same traditions, the same cheers. The jerseys are fancier and the paddles are more expensive. That’s about it.
“We get kids who join because their friend joined, but then they end up loving it. We get kids who aren’t among the best athletes in the school when they start, but they are among the best athletes when they are done because they love it that much and are that dedicated.”