The Laoyam Eagles Dragon Boat Team is already training for the 2002 season, making the trip to Lillooet Lake and False Creek in Vancouver. The team will be able to practice more conveniently in Gates Lake as it begins to thaw, and eventually in One Mile Lake.
Last season, the always successful dragon boat team won the North American high school championship, plus two silver medals at the World Dragon Boat Championships in Philadelphia against the top junior and mixed teams in the world.
The parents of team racers are busy fund-raising for the upcoming season, where the Eagles will do some travelling to defend their titles. Contact Mirian Jackson or Brenda McLeod to make a donation or join up with the fund-raising committee.
The Eagles will enter two teams in the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver at the end of June, and then will send a team to Welland, Ontario at the end of the summer for the national team selection race. The top teams will represent Canada at the 2002 World Championships the following year in Shanghai.
As usual there is some turnover as paddlers graduate and move on. The team is looking for strong girls and guys in Grade 10 and 11 to fill in the holes.
