2012 Club Crew World Championships Youth Scholarship Winners
It is with great pleasure that the ERDBA Board announces the winners of the 2012 Club Crew World Championships Youth Scholarship. We received many excellent applications demonstrating the spirit and dedication of the sport. Our thanks are also due to the coaches who clearly know these young paddlers and provided wonderful insights into each applicant and their particular impact on the team.
The winners are Irene Hu of DCH Racing and William Chen of DCH Racing. Please join us in congratulating these talented paddlers who will participate in the Club Crew World Championships in Hong Kong.
Essay by Irene Hu
“Mental toughness is what strives you forward, pushing you to that competitive edge to accomplish something that you never thought that you could have done.” My coach said this as I listened intently, trying to absorb what he had to say. I still recall my very first race. Upon seeing hundreds of participating teams, I felt the adrenaline kick in even before we loaded the boat. As the boats lined up at the starting blocks, I took a deep breath, getting ready to attack the water. I kept my eyes forward, processing everything we had practiced. It grew silent. We were ready. The whistle screeched and off we went. My coach counted down from five and we started sprinting, taking the lead. All I could hear was the splash of the water at every stroke, colliding with my face. At the last fifty meters to the race, my coach called a finish, pushing us harder to bring up the intensity. In just a span of seventy seconds, we managed to work as a disciplined team, obtaining victory. We learned the importance of mind over matter.
It’s easy to give up while submerged in the intense atmosphere of the race, but overlooking the pain and thinking about the gold is vital. Mental toughness is one of the many factors in dragon boating that pushes me beyond my limits to accomplish the goal. It is a great quality to obtain at my young age because it can be incorporated into real life situations. We all go through obstacles but it is how we overcome them that get you to where you want to be. When I entered the world of dragon boating at the end of my freshman year, my friends warned me that I wouldn’t survive the season. I proved all of them wrong, attending every practice despite my exhaustion. Late nights at the gym became my daily routine, as I was the earliest to arrive and the last to leave. I was determined to change the judgment of others. It was the mentality that pushed me forward.
I’ve been part of the DCH junior program for three years now. It gave me the family I never really had, as cliché as that sounds. With my mom and dad working day and night, there was no one to guide me. Going through bad relationships and friendships, DCH was there when situations got tough. I give a lot of credit to the mentors on the team I’ve had through the years. They have great influence on the mature young lady I have come to be. They constantly reminded me that they believed in me. They never put me down when I made a mistake but understood that everyone makes mistakes. The positive attitudes you feel within the team just helps every one of us believe in each other. We win together and we lose together.
The program has taught me a great sense of selflessness, to not just think about myself. I can honestly say I never thought that way my first year of paddling. As I became more involved, I realized that the team has given me so much, and it’s never too late to give back. I thought about the time and effort many individuals put into the team to make the team better. They were being unselfish and that made me put my best foot forward for the team. I remember all the motivational speeches that were said to me when I had a feeling of doubt. Now I want to be the one to motivate the new juniors that joins us because I was once in their place. One of the greatest feelings is to see another one of your teammates achieve something they didn’t think was ever possible. Not being able to do a pull up at first was just frustrating. It was the warm support that made me keep trying. To see the excitement people get when they do their first pull up on their own leaves me a feeling of joy. From endless memories to incredible mentors to unforgettable races, I am glad to be part of this dragon boat community.
Essay by William Chen
When I was seven, I poked myself with two needles until I bled to prove that I wasn’t afraid of blood and that I could be a doctor one day. When I was nine, I was adamant about dropping out of school and kicking off my music career by touring with Britney Spears. When I turned eleven, all my hopes and dreams, even the wild ones of climbing Mount Everest or singing at Carnegie Hall, became just a bit more real when I began to write them down in a journal. Every new idea I put down, I would look out the window to the world outside and envy those who seemed to enjoy life, praying that I would be the one having fun one day. While I was busy making other plans, life had a different path for me.
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer before my 14th birthday. Soon after, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Right before her operation, the doctor told her that he had found cancer in her lungs. I always knew that there was going to be hard times ahead of me, with wrongful paths that were ready to submerge me at any given second, but never was I prepared for this. My mother has been diagnosed with three different cancers in the past four years, and to say that the situation was unfair seemed like an understatement. Medical bills were piling up and the emotional strength of my parents was dwindling. All I could do was to try and attempt to keep everything from falling apart. I quit all of my afterschool activities, and spent my time working three different jobs to support my family. I was only a sophomore, and already afraid to experience the joys of the world; I only wanted to stay alive.
It could have been a chance encounter; I may have been due for some good luck, but one cold day in February, I found myself in a room full of strangers and dumbbells. I remember that day so clearly. I smelled a whiff of strawberries, and turned around to face Irene, a veteran junior on DCH, the Dragon Boat team that I am now a part of. She told me that if I decided to join the team, I would not regret it.
I’ve made many mistakes at DCH, but joining the team was probably the smartest decision I’ve ever made. Because of DCH, I’ve met and become friends with so many different people that encourage me to be better each day. What inspires me the most is when I see the intensity of my teammates when they are paddling on the water. There’s this effervescent calmness to their faces before they begin a drill or compete in a race, and suddenly, they become warriors with their blade-like paddles, ready to attack the waves ahead. Seeing how focused my team is on the water, I try to replicate that when I Dragon Boat, and that ideal has transcended into my life outside of this sport, especially in school. Due to my family’s personal issues, I never had much time to focus on my schoolwork. My grades stayed at an average 85 and that seemed to be my peak. Since I’ve joined the team, I’ve learned to focus on any task in front of me, especially my schoolwork. As a result, my average has risen to a 96, placing me in the top 10% in my major- a feat that I never thought was possible.
DCH has also shown me that although it’s important to be independent, it’s okay to ask for help. I’ve experienced many hardships in my life, and acting like nothing was wrong was my coping mechanism. About a month ago, a friend of mine passed away; he was seventeen. We had just completed one of my goals, to perform at Carnegie Hall a few weeks earlier, and all of a sudden, the principal told me that he was found dead. After his funeral, I went straight to practice and felt my armor breaking. I wanted to cry but couldn’t bear the thought of anyone seeing me damaged. An adult team member, Justin, noticed and spent the rest of the night like a crutch for me. He barely knew me at the time, yet he bought me tacos after practice was over and talked me through the situation. Its random acts of kindness that the people of DCH have displayed that has taught me to be kind, sensitive, and to see through what people want, but what they need.
Every day that I am with DCH, whether it is during practice, hanging out, or preparing for a competition, there’s always a lesson that I can apply to other areas of my life. Still trying to perfect my Dragon Boat form, I have to engage in tedious drills to strengthen my upper body and polish my technique. The more I practice, competitively competing in the sport seems to become more possible, and eventually, I’m racing all over the United States. Just when I think that the possibilities are endless, I find myself attempting to conquer the impossible, which is to compete in the Club Crew World Championships.
I haven’t officially competed internationally in any sporting event because I was never sure if I could pull through, but when I do, I want to do it for the right reasons because I know that I will never be the same person again. I’m not unsure anymore because of all the twists and turns that have occurred that I can’t control, I really do believe that I am at the right place, in the right time. As the Club Crew World Championships nears, DCH hasn’t just made me a better athlete, but a better man. I used to be so scared of losing life that I was never able to live it, never able to experience the buried life. Yet in all the adventures that DCH has taken me on, from meeting new people to competing on different obstacle courses, leaving my comfort zone is what keeps me excited for what’s next. I don’t always stare out of windows anymore because I am who I want to be. After all, a Dragon Boat in the docks may be safe, but that is not what Dragon Boats are built for.
Jane Howard once said, “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” Luckily, I’ve found mine.
ERBDA Announces 2011 Scholarship Winners for Worlds
It is my great pleasure as President of the ERDBA Board to announce the winners of the 2011 Team USA Youth Scholarship. We received many excellent applications demonstrating the spirit and dedication of this team. Our thanks are also due to the coaches who clearly know these young paddlers and provided wonderful insights into each applicant and their particular impact on the team.
The winners are Kaitlin Peck of Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association and Elmer Tse of Capital City Dragons. As you read the wonderful essays, please join me in congratulating these talented paddlers who will represent us well at the World Dragon Boat Championship in Tampa.
For your reading pleasure, essays will be posted shortly!
11th Indoor Regatta Race Results!
RACE RESULTS, MARCH 19, 2011 - INDOOR REGATTA – NEW YORK