The "team aspect" is incredible.  You can do so many more things at a higher level than as an individual.  A team of 20 paddlers can pull a water skier.  But you can't do that by yourself.  It's fun to bounce ideas off each other, and develop both support for each other as well as friendly competition.

But it is also important that everybody is on the same page.  If teams can develop a "team culture" and "team philosophy" - then this helps the team go farther.  It is important for a recreational team to develop a sense of inclusiveness, and for captains and other group leaders to make sure everybody is feeling included and making a contributtion, AND having fun.

At the first dragon boat coaching conference in Vancouver, organized by Alan Carlsson of the False Creek Racing Canoe Club, I led the workshop about "History, Sociology and Team Tribalism about dragon boats." It was a fun workshop that went over how modern dragon boat racing spread throughout the world from Hong Kong, to the rest of the world - largely because the Hong Kong Tourism Bureau gave gifts of dragon boats to other cities, such as Vancouver for Expo 86. 

In the workshop, I also talked about what I call "Team tribalism," about how dragon boat teams are really like individual tribes.  They develop their own culture, personality, goals and philosophy.  They often see other teams as competing tribes.  They look to see what other teams are doing to go faster, fundraise or recruit.  It's like if one team has fire, other teams want fire.  They might eventually get fire, but that doesn't mean they know how to use it.  Teams that spy on each other do not necessarily know how to use the information.  When teams are able to work together, they are able to build a society.

For many beginning teams with new paddlers, there is a big learning curve.  Ideally it is important to bring a "team elder" who can pass on knowledge to the new paddlers and help develop the team culture.  An experienced coach is ideal.  A coach can share stories about what other teams have learned while teaching a new team the skills necessary to both paddle well, and to work together.

We like to say that a dragon boat team will only go as fast as the slowest person allows us to.  So it's important that we encourage everybody to improve.  For some first-time paddlers, they may feel un-athletic, and not contributing to the team's performance.  They may feel like dead weight on the boat, because they are not paddling in time.  In my experience, it takes sometimes 6 or 7 practices before the timing really kicks in.  Some people get it right off the bat - some don't.  But almost everybody gets the sense of the fun of paddling, and hanging out with a great group of people.

So.... if you are feeling like you are slowing the team down because you are uncoordinated or weak.  Don't worry.  We will help support your learning curve.  Timing and strength will come.  The important thing is that you are making new friends, learning new skills, and having a great time.

It's been interesting that many strong males who do body building, or are strong atheletes sometimes have the most challenging time learning to paddle as a team.  They are used to performing individual tasks that require strength.  With a paddle in their hands, they often try to paddle as hard as they can with their head down and their eyes on the paddle.  Their stroke is strong and long.  In an individual boat, they would probably go faster than their team mates.  But in a dragon boat, they are often out of time, paddling out of synch or paddling with too long a stroke, causing the boat to rock. 

It takes time to learn to paddle together.  It takes time to match the entries, stroke lengths and rates of 20 paddlers together, until they paddle as if they are one blade entering the water together.  But that is what it takes: Patience and sensitivity to those in the boat with you.  We train all the paddlers to watch the timing of the two lead paddlers sitting in seat one.  We train them not to rely on their ears, but on their eyes.  The drummer gives them both visual and voice cues to correct mistakes or to lead them to better performance.

Every paddler is important.  Every paddler must paddle in time together.  If a paddler misses a stroke or two, the opportunity is lost for the boat to be strong in that moment.  A race stretching anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes is a series of aproximately 120 to 200 paddle strokes.

Imagine the breast cancer survivors age 50+ are getting into dragon boat racing now.  One of the things that they discovered is that the dragon boat team experience mirrored many aspects of cancer social support groups.  Over my years as a cancer survivor I attended different social support groups and studied it as part of both health and sport psychology.  Social support is a big part of being a team.  It helps individuals go through the tough times, and feel that they are not alone, as well as encouraging individuals to do their best.  Breast cancer dragon boat teams are now going to the National and World Championships.  If they can do it.  We can do it.

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published August 27, 2006

TAMPA - For Suzi Cloutier, it's about the perfect "Zen moment" when the paddlers are exactly in time with the beat of the drum.

For Janet Jastremski, it's about forming bonds with other breast cancer survivors, and coming to terms with her diagnosis.

It's dragon boat racing. And, okay, technically it's about commemorating the death of the Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Legend says he thumbed his nose at a corrupt government 2,000 years ago by jumping into the Milou River. Fishermen paddled to try and save him and beat drums to ward off hungry predators.

The dragon boats invaded Tampa this weekend for the 2006 U.S. Dragon Boat Racing Championship, which will determine national champions. Members of Team USA will compete in the 2007 world championships in Sydney, Australia.

Team categories include youth teams, age 50 and older and breast cancer support groups, to name a few. Jastremski, 58, came to Tampa from Philadelphia to compete with Hope Afloat, her team of 60 breast cancer survivors.

The team seemed like an athletic way for Jastremski to join a support group. She never imagined the hard work involved.

"I'm going to be out there with these middle-aged ladies and we're going to be paddling around," she said she thought. "I got the shock of my life."

A steerer and 18 to 20 paddlers are on board during a race. A drummer beats a rhythm for the paddlers, who race for speed with other boats. Most dragon boats are at least 40 feet long and 700 pounds, and, well, look like dragons.

"It's 22 people doing the exact same thing at the exact same time with a lot of power," said 38-year-old Cloutier, who came from Portland, Ore., with the Wasabi Women team.

Saturday, Cloutier and friends posed for pictures in front of a giant steel dragon sculpture in Cotanchobee Park, between Garrison Channel and the St. Pete Times Forum. They planned to watch races Saturday and get back on board to compete Sunday.

"When you're on the boat, you don't get the perspective of what it looks like," said Wasabi teammate Kristin Anderson, 30.

Dan Smith, a 38-year-old from Harbour Island, watched the races and talked to some teams about joining up in time for next year's championship.

"It caught my attention," he said. "I love the fluid, in-sync energy of it."

To hear Jastremski tell it, it's even better on the water.

"If you're all working together and if you're all in sync, the boat will lift up and glide across the water," she said. "It's exciting."

The races continue today from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is a dragon boat trade show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cotanchobee Park, 601 St. Pete Times Forum Drive. The event is free for spectators. Visit www.tampadbnationals.com.