LEAVING CANCER ON THE DOCK
New all-cancer dragon boat team is seeking paddlers
Nearly 20 years after starting its breast cancer awareness paddler team, Pink Steel, the Steel City Dragons has formed an all-cancer paddler team, Pittsburgh Unity, for adults of all genders who are survivors of any type of cancer.
Carrying on a tradition with its origins in China more than 2,000 years ago, dragon boat teams take to festive 46-foot long boats propelled by 20 paddlers. A drummer sits up front and beats cadence while a person situated in the rear wields a massive wooden steering oar.
Pittsburgh Unity is offering free introductory sessions through May and plans to compete five times this season, beginning with the Pocono Dragon Boat Race on June 22.
“We are still signing people up,” said Steel City Dragons chairman Bob Randolph. “We are hoping most (people) sign up by June 1 so we can plan our race crews.”
The team practices three times a week from May to October on the Allegheny River at the Fox Chapel Yacht Club. All equipment is provided.
According to the U.S. Dragon Boat Federation, all-cancer paddler clubs started in 2000 to offer survivors of all types of cancers the same opportunities and rewards provided to the breast cancer community.
Breast cancer paddling teams originated in 1996, when doctors in Vancouver, Canada, challenged a commonly held medical belief that strenuous upper body exercise in breast cancer patients could lead to lymphedema. They gathered a team of survivors for a six-month training program with the goal of proving that the repetitive motion of dragon boat paddling would benefit participants.
The women completed their sixmonth program without a single case
of lymphedema. They also learned that the social connections formed among teammates were beneficial to the paddlers’ physical and mental health.
In 2005, Steel City Dragons launched Pink Steel.
Two longtime members of that club, Sonia “Crash” Rogers and Laura “Schmaak” Schatzkamer, recently founded Pittsburgh Unity.
“We want to provide this opportunity because it makes a lot of people feel better,” said Schatzkamer, 75, of Cheswick. “There are a number of us who have had breast cancer and have had the luxury of being on our breast cancer team.”
Schatzkamer, who said she has made some of her best friends while participating in the sport, doesn’t expect the new team to be competitive at first.
“Goals for the season are to put together a team and go out on a boat all together, introduce people to each other and, in the offseason, perhaps have some social events,” she said.
“We would like to develop a team that wants to compete in races in the future.”
Rogers, 64, of Crafton, said her goals include: getting enough members to fill a boat, teaching paddlers to leave their cancer on the dock and enjoying the beautiful river and the people paddling with them.
“I would love to see this team grow, that we will need to purchase a third boat,” she said.
A four-time cancer survivor, Rogers looks forward to paddlers opening up about their experiences.
“Not all of us like to talk about our cancer, but on this boat, everyone knows you have had some type of cancer,” she said. “And we are still here together, giving each other hope, healing, strength and support.”
For more information, email info@steelcitydragons. or go to steelcitydragons.org.