|
 The true story of how a youth dragon boat team went to Seattle,
Whipped the competition, and qualified for Macau
By John Herrera
August 22-23, 2009
A very diverse group of teenagers from San Jose California descended upon Seattle, Washington for the Pacific Dragon Boat Association (PDBA) championships with one goal in mind: win an entry into the 2010 World Club Crew Championships in Macau, China. What had started as a pipe dream during the trials, tribulations, and struggles at the beginning of the season was quickly becoming a reasonable goal as the season progressed with increased success. These very enthusiastic teenagers had overcome two poor performances in the beginning of the season and were on a roll after winning gold medals in two of their three races prior to Seattle. As cliché as it might sound, these kids were starting to believe.
The aforementioned teenagers hail from Independence High School which is located in the east side of San Jose. Independence is a very diverse high school with 4,000 students that represent over 80 different nationalities. In only its second season of dragon boat racing, the crew had struggled early on to forge an identity. In addition to these kids coming from several different ethnic backgrounds and speaking different languages as a first language, the age gap between the freshmen and the seniors on the team was another barrier that made forging an identity a difficult enterprise.
This identity started to gel as the season continued. The kids started to bond by spending numerous hours together in the dragon boat, in the automobiles that car-pool us to practice, and in the endless hours that are spent in marshalling areas at various races throughout the schedule. We had been talking about Seattle all season long. Could it be done? Could a team in only its second season that struggled as mightily as this one go to Seattle and qualify for a world championship race? It could. We could. We had the medals that prove that we could. But first, we had to get everyone up to Seattle; a challenge in and of itself that could only be overcome with a lot of determination and creativity.
Keeping down the cost of the transportation was paramount given the current state of our economy. To accomplish this, many kids, with the help of some dedicated parents drove the 900 miles to Seattle. But what if some of the kids have their own kids? This is a very harsh situation, but it is reality in this society we call our own. A teen mother might be the last thing you would expect to see on a dragon boat, but in the rugged part of town where we come from, it comes as no surprise to these kids who have seen stranger things. So, with their paddles, PFDs , and babies in tow, the dragon boat team from Independence High School was on its way to Seattle for a chance to make history by qualifying for the 2010 WCCC.
Slowly but surely everyone arrived in Seattle, with the last carpool checking in to the hotel at two in the morning, just a few hours before the team breakfast before the race. Fortunately the kids in that last carpool appeared to be unfazed by the long Grapes of Wrath-like journey to Seattle that featured their car breaking down twice, several stops to attend to fussing babies, and an impromptu car repair done in the dead of night to make the final leg of the journey.
After a fantastic breakfast at the one and only Hurricane Café (highly recommended if you ever stay in down town Seattle), the team was ready to rock and roll. The venue for the biggest race of the season was the world famous Warren G. Magnusson Park, made famous by a free concert that rock music legends Pearl Jam performed there 17 years ago. The venue was fantastic; it featured breathtaking views of the Seattle area, startling water that was a perfect shade of blue and luscious trees and vines that grew fresh fruit that my kids happily munched on throughout the weekend.
Surprisingly, the biggest race of the weekend was going to be our very first race. This was the qualifier for the youth mixed division. I told my kids that this was for all the marbles. If they win this one, then we go to China! Unfortunately, youth crews from Portland’s Wasabi Dragon boat club and local favorites Seattle Sake had other ideas. It was apparent that these crews had all of the right ingredients to send us home disappointed; therefore, we had our work cut out for us.
The race began with Independence (who is referred to as Bay Area Dragons Youth on the race results) taking a huge lead after the start. Starts have always been the bread and butter of our races. We’ve never trailed at the start of a race, and this would be no different. Picture a heat seeking torpedo right when it’s shot out and you will have seen how well our start was. With this big edge at the start, the other teams had no chance and we would will our way across the finish line in first place. “We did it! We’re going to China!” exclaimed many of our kids.
We thought we had secured the entry for China by winning that mixed race only to find out on day two of the race that winning that race was only phase one in trying to secure an entry into the World Club Crew Championships. In order to qualify, our team was required to win in a best out of three format. That meant that we had to win one more mixed race to qualify in the mixed division and then win two open division races in order to qualify our open team. After having celebrated the night before, it came as a bit of a shock to the team to find out that our work was only a quarter of the way done.
The shock was apparent in our first race of the day on Sunday which was the open division race. After having sprinted out to a large lead at the start after another one our typical brilliant starts, the team struggled to cross the finish line. With only fifty meters to go Wasabi was pulling seats on us as though we were standing still. Fortunately for us, the race is 500 meters and not 510 meters and we were able to hold off Wasabi and win the first race of Sunday. This put us in the envious position of only having to win one more race in both divisions in order to qualify our team for both divisions at the World Club Crew Championships.
Work hard, believe in the system, and support one another and you will be rewarded. This was the mantra as we faced back to back races at the end of the day. Wins in both races would result in gold and a trip to China; losses would result in having to win two consecutive do or die rubber matches against Wasabi, a prospect none of us wanted to face. With the close call of the first race still lingering in our minds we knew that it was going to be a true test of our ability to paddle as a team and finish what we started so many months ago. To further confound matters the conditions of the water had changed as the calm blue paradise had turned into a squat leviathan relentlessly churning its rolling breakers into the hulls of our dragon boats. “The waves were so high that one time I got all air during one of my strokes,” said a beleaguered Minh Lam, one of our strongest paddlers who has quickly become a dragon boat extraordinaire.
Despite the conditions of the water and an emboldened Wasabi crew, the kids from Independence High School turned in two of its best races of all time. The end result was two very decisive back to back victories which equaled a clean sweep of the competition for the entire weekend. Independence had qualified its mixed and open teams for China by striking gold, not once, but twice by winning gold medals in both the mixed and open divisions in the Emerald City of Seattle.
The celebration lasted long into the night. Several flowery speeches were made at the team dinner celebration that night at a restaurant called Game Works (highly recommended if you’re staying in downtown Seattle with teenagers). The common theme of these speeches was team work and what it meant to be a team and to support and look out for each other. Through working hard in practice, driving the grind of a journey just to get to Seattle, and overcoming stiff competition and harrowing water conditions, this crew of dragons had forged a new identity for itself: one that now includes a birth in the 2010 World Club Crew Championships in Macau.
See this article featured in Dragon Boat World International Magazine - http://dragonboatworldinternational.com/Flipmags/edition-8/edition-8.php
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form