There’s nothing better than paddling out onto the water on a hot summer day.
The new Alouette Paddling Club doesn’t think so, anyway.
And it hopes to share that feeling with the community, particularly youth in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.
Head coach Brian Hammer was inspired to start his own paddling club after years of working for others.
“I just liked the idea of doing something of my own,” he said. “So when I was given the opportunity, it was a pretty easy decision.”
Hammer has been paddling for nearly 20 years, and says the skills the sport teaches are important for kids of all ages to learn and develop.
“Teamwork, confidence, social skills, those are all so important, and they transfer to other sports and to other aspects of life,” he said.
“Paddling is a perfect way to teach those skills in a fun way, and it turns the kids into little adults almost.”
The Alouette Paddling Club has only been operating since March of this year, but it has already become an attractive option for schools looking for a fun but rewarding field trip, particularly as the school year wraps up ahead of summer.
The club has already gone on 12 outings with groups from four different schools across Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. The club has kept attracting new schools since that time.
“We’ve really been excited and encouraged by the number of people we’ve attracted so far,” Hammer said.
“We’ve taken just under 250 kids out on the water so far, so the interest and the support has been high from the beginning.”
Barry Waterman volunteered for the latest event that brought students from Laity View elementary down to the Alouette River.
He said he came along despite not having a kid of his own in attendance because of his love for the sport.
“I have a lot of experience with canoeing and paddling, so I wanted to just come and help out,” Waterman said. “Canoeing is such a great sport, and Brian is really engaging in how he teaches it to the kids.”
The club is now looking forward to launching their summer camp program for kids ages 8-14, which starts the week of July 10 and runs every week of the summer.
For $200, paddlers get a week of full-day lessons on the fundamental skills of the sport. The club provides a variety of different boats, from canoes to kayaks to even a dragon boat, for the kids to use.
Half-day camps are also available for $150.
The camps lead up to a competitive race at the end of each week, which kids can take part in only if they feel comfortable doing so.
Hammer says he wants his club to downplay the competitive spirit the sport can sometimes attract, instead focusing on the fun and skill-building aspects of paddling.
“We don’t want anyone to compete if they don’t want to,” he said. “If some of the kids want to race after they learn some skills, that’s great. But it’s definitely not something we want to force on anyone.
“A lot of parents, when they hear ‘competition,’ they don’t always want that, which we understand. It should just be about the fun.”