Practices

The Water Warriors team practices twice a week at Cultus Lake.
Drive to the end of Sunnyside Blvd and park at the Marina.
The address is : 50 Sunnyside Blvd, Cultus Lake, BC V2R 4Z5
Click for map.


First Weekly Practice:
Mondays and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. 
Contact us to find out the date of the first practice of the season.

Park:
Currently we carpool to the marina or buy individual parking passes for the season. Our carpools meet in Garrison, Yarrow, and Abbotsford.

At the marina parking lot, our warm-up instructors get us warmed up before we move the boat to the lake. It's helpful to have all hands on deck for moving the boat (using a dolly) into the lake.

On the Lake:
Our aim is to be in the boat and on the water at 6:00pm. We practice until 7:00-7:30pm. We want to be off the lake by the time the sun sets. When the sun starts setting closer to 8:00pm, we'll move our start times to warm up at 6:00pm. Once we are done the practice, all hands on deck are required to return the boat to the shore and lock it up.

Attendance:
We encourage you to commit to as many practices as you can attend.  We use an online calendar to mark the practices that we will be attending and the ones where we will be absent. Unless you have a medical or family emergency, we expect to know your attendance more than 24 hours in advance.

The season goes from mid-March (just after daylight savings) to the first weeks of September - depending on the date of our last regatta - see regattas. Our practices are usually 1.5 hours long (no, we don't paddle the whole time). At first, we paddle for a couple of minutes at a time and then take a break. By the end of the season, we will have the fitness level to paddle around the perimeter of Cultus Lake. It's awesome!

We practice with a certified dragonboat coach. She provides coaching for the team as well as individual feedback. There are usually quite a few new members of the team and she takes the time to show you how to paddle with good technique. The coach makes sure that we each learn proper technique to prevent injury and reduce stress on our joints. She is also VERY interested in building up our core muscles. This sport doesn't just use arm strength. It's a full body workout - you'll be surprised at how much you will use your abs and legs.

Come and try-it-out! - Click here for more information.

Watch videos of team members sharing why "This is for Me!"

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What do you bring / wear to a practice?

1. A plastic or other soft water bottle (No metal as it damages the boats)
2. Gloves - if you don't happen to have paddling gloves, you can wear mini-gloves with rubber gloves over top (waterproof)
3. Hat or toque (in early spring)
4. Yoga pants or athletic pants, with optional rain pants over top (not jeans or cotton)
5. A moisture-wicking layer, a wamer layer over that, and a rain shell (you will find your optimal spring-time layering technique after a practice or two) (In the summer, shorts/capris and a tank top/tshirt are fine!)
6. Rain boots or water shoes (In the summer, sandals or water shoes)

Equipment provided by the club:

1. Dragon boat paddle
2. PFD (life jacket)