DRAGON BOATING
Dragon
Boating for Upper
Hutt College
‘Winning comes from an environment where standards are
high, confidence and enjoyment are abundant and losing is not an option' said
Bryan Williams former All Black. This is what has come to characterize what
Dragon Boating is all about at Upper
Hutt College.
This culture has developed over time.
This is a fantastic team sport to be a part of with
plenty of very positive feedback from students, parents and teachers. Our
successes have been many. Since 2005 we have had 2 focused and motivated mixed
teams (UHC Storm & UHC Force) that more often than not, have reached the
Wellington Regional Grand Final. In 2003 we competed in the Nationals where the
UHC team came 4th. Since that time we have regularly been in the top
2 teams in the country, claiming the National title in 2006 & 2008.
In 2007, UHC Storm were selected to represent New Zealand at the World Championships as the New Zealand
‘B' team. The competition was in Sydney
where the team did a superb job making every final and beating the NZ ‘A' team
in every race - the icing on the cake being when they won the bronze medal in
the 200m. The teams have continued to build on that success over the years and
there is a definite culture of excellence that the UHC teams have aspired to
and managed to sustain.
After 3 weeks of training in term 4, students are put
in a team that trains on land prior to Christmas, then a mix of land and
on-water trainings in Term 1 until the Festival(s). Within these teams we
challenge individuals to give all that they can to their team in order for it
to achieve all that it can, taken a group of ordinary students and put them
together to become an extraordinary team through teaching them lifeskills like
responsibility, commitment, perseverance, determination and hard work. At Upper Hutt
College we have built a
culture whereby students know that to be a part of a Dragon Boat team is
something special - they know they'll work hard, but along the way have some
fun, make new friends and have a real sense of belonging. Teamwork is a big
part of Dragon Boating that we emphasise - we have to, because otherwise it is
extremely hard to bring together so many individuals to accomplish one goal. We
talk about how the team is only as good as the ‘worst paddler' - this may mean
the person with the worst technique, or least fit, or least committed, or
someone who feels they aren't a valued member of the team. But in the end every
paddler has to do the exact same thing as everyone else, at exactly the same
time - there's no stars, no losers. They're all on equal footing and therefore
all accountable to each other.
Dragon Boating is an incredible team sport to be
involved in and I
believe it has had a lasting impact on many students over the past 10 years or
so that I have been involved, mainly because of the value we have put on being
a part of the team, the fun we have and the amazing feeling success breeds.
SUCCESS IS SWEETEST
WHEN THE EFFORT IS HARDEST.
Suzanne Jamieson
   
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