Dedication = speed... those women proved it...

I'm proud that they are canadian.. maybe the banks should sponsor them...

their times are faster than some of the crews in the A final. Amazing.

I agree with the last post, these women, who work really hard to be where they are at, are going to represent Canada.. why should they have to pay for anything? I thought I even saw some of those women carrying around newborn babies! talk about added expenses.

"their times are faster than some of the crews in the A final. Amazing"

Oh god not that crap again. Times don't matter folks. Head to head matters. Sure the time was nice, but lets stop drawing conclusions based on different heats.

That is so true.. time doesnt matter at all when it comes to the finals... it all comes down to who ever crosses 1st wins... the time it took to race is irrelevant..however the time it took to train and practice makes all the difference between an,"A" final...and a ,"G" final...way to go ladies

The ladies could easily have been in the A-final. Head to head racing was not used to make it into A and they were just a fraction of a second out.

I don't think this thread was intended to suggest that the women should have or could have beat someone in anohter final! Stop trying to stir the pot.

This thread was just to give kudos to our woman's team that will be representing us in Australia. They are awesome and that was proven with a sweep at the Worls in Berlin where they won 3 Gold medals.

They should be sponsored!

Good luck to our women in Australia. We know you'll do us proud!

They should be Sponsored ?
What about all the other crews going...Jim's Senior Natioal Crew..aka Mayfair
Don't they deserve some help.

The women did a terrific job considering that it was the first time that whole team was together and that several of their strong girls were in the A final racing with Mayfair and Scotia. This team is preparing themselves to be lucky in Sydney.

Anyone going to sydney to represent canada should be sponsored.. lets put canada on the map, and get us noticed...! .. a toonie here .. a toonie there..here a toonie ..there a toonie everywhere a toonie...

If the National Teams (Premiere, Juniour, Senoir, Masters, and Grand Masters) could get some sort of ongoing funding, we could send the best teams every two years and possibly/probably win the event every time. But there is no funding. Like most rec teams, each national team member is required to pay most, if not all, the bill (Australia is VERY expensive: flight, accomodation, etc is in the $4k per person range), so we send less than the best. It is certainly a lot to ask from each to spend the money, the time training, away from family, work, and regular life to represent us abroad.

The reality is corporate sponsorship has dried up in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley and age of CEO/CFO leadership, the next winter olympics is here in Canada, dragon boating to non-participants is a third or fourth tier sport, and to this point no proposals for securing funding through local/regional event fees has happened.

You want Canada to do well in Australia, volunteer ideas for securing regular funding by contacting DBC. If you have the means, break out the piggy bank and give a few bucks. It is one thing to say we should send the best, its another to do something about it.

Until DBC assists with a portion of membership fees going toward National Team members I have no respect for them. I am sorry but the Masters and Grand Masters program is not at the same level of competitiveness internationally as the other levels and do not deserve the same funding. JMO. Shoot me if you want, but other than Eat Trout there is nothing worth funding.

There is no IDBF category called Masters. Seniors are over 40. At the last world championships, the seniors times (particularly Shun De) were very competitive with the premiere times. The grand dragon or grand master times were not at all competitive with the senior times.

Yes they are fast but not easy. To bad because they ate cute too.

I have to agree with anonymous Re: Damn those NDBC women are fast... June 18 2007, 3:09 PM

If dragon - boat Canada was to give if only 5$ of each membership as funding for the national crew (women, men, mixed, etc) that would be of great help to all those top dragonboater who are willing to put Canada on the Map.

What do you people think ?
What doec DBC thinks ?
Why not start this right here online and have pple sign in some sort of petition to that regard ?

DBC does give a grant to its national teams.

Believe it or not, the grant is worth more then the entirety of its membership fees in 2006.

This is why DBC is promoting sport racing - to sign up new members.

Dear Anonymous,

For the cause of transparency, could you kindly share the source of this information regarding grants to the national dragon boat teams?

Thanks,

Marisha

Marisha, contact DBC, you'll see that 12000 is set aside for the national teams. not alot, but a start. this was also announced at last year's agm.

$12,000 you say? Hmmm, let's see how that breaks down.

Assumptions:
- Every single dollar of the $12,000 will be distributed to the athletes (a ridiculous assumption, I know. I would think that "administration" will eat up over half of that, but let it stand for now)
- Open teams will have a roster of 24 men
- Women's teams will have a roster of 24 women
- Mixed teams will be made of the men and women from the Open and Women's teams
- 4 age classes to be funded, Junior, Premier, Senior, Grand dragon

4 x 24 x 2 = 192 paddlers

$12,000 / 192 paddlers = $62.50 / paddler

Wow, $62.50 per paddler. That's practically like going to Australia FOR FREE!!!!

<cough>

Order the shrimp, it's on special.

$62.50 almost equals shorts + shirt
but I guess we should be grateful that they're finally kicking in something

That money was quietly designated for the premier team. Now you've advertised it and the rest of Team Canada will start squawking. Nice going idiot.

..and have never been on the national team. But I think the only teams that should get funded are the ones that contribute to nations cup points. The other classes, although important, have less importance for our country than winning the nations cup.

Any money should go to the juniors and students on the premier teams. Adults can pay for their own recreation. My opinion and I am going to Sydney.

congrats NDBC women!
now... is there a website or sponsorship package we can point our businesses to to potentially help you out?

What someone kindly suggest a plan whereby DBC can collect $250,000 to fully fund the teams?

I believe the money is divided between all teams. As a senior, I didn't have to pay for a team shirt.

As a Senior, I know the money is allocated only to the Premier crews.

It was published and announced at the AGM. The money goes to the premier teams.

don't know any sport on the planet that funds seniors.

As far as the question posed by Anonymous - 02/07/07 9:54pm goes,thank you for your enquiry. The National Women's Dragon Boat team is currently working on a website where individuals/groups will be able to support our campaign for Sydney. In the mean time, if you are aware of or can offer sponsorship opportunities, kindly contact me at marishar@yahoo.com.

We are also offering two dragon boat clinics - the first this Saturday at Sunnyside from 11am to 1pm and the second on Saturday, July 28 from 11am to 1pm also at Sunnyside. We would also be happy to travel (within reason) to train your team if you are located outside Toronto.