Right Around the River Blog
Rocketts Landing To Compete in Dragon Boat Festival
Post Date: 07-27-2011
Move over hot weather -- the second annual Dragon Boat Festival hits Rocketts Landing this Saturday, and we have a boat with our name on it ready to make some waves!
Around 38 boats are racing this year, and SportsBackers and Toronto-based company Great White North (GWN) Dragon Boat -- the company who brought dragon boat racing to Richmond -- have quite an event planned. In addition to the 500-meter sprints each team will compete in, spectators will enjoy a cultural festival along the James River, including food vendors, a beer garden and Chinese musical and dance performances. Sponsored by WhatIfCreditUnions.com, the race also raises money to benefit The Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation.
Rocketts Landing residents and employees have joined forces to fill our dragon boat, and we’ve spent this week learning how to manage the vessel and leave the competition in our wake. Well, not everything’s about the competition. In fact, as a sporting event, the Dragon Boat Festival focuses more on celebrating the camaraderie of sportsmanship and the race’s cultural history, which started in Southern China 2,400 years ago. Today, the Richmond sporting event provides an exhilarating, team-building experience for many corporations and associations.
To prepare for the race, rowers receive only two days of instruction from GWN Dragon Boat. Twenty people fill the boat, plus a drummer and steersperson. In the Rocketts Landing boat, our own employee Blakeley Newbill will serve as our team’s captain. And despite the fact only two of our rowers have competed in dragon boats before, everyone feels fully confident for Saturday’s race.
“It’s been really nice taking the work aspect out of our roles and being with each other and gaining friendships [among residents],” says Blakeley. “And, we have dreams of taking home that big, gold trophy and displaying it in every community building.”
So be sure to come on down to Rocketts Landing and see how we fare against the rest of the dragon boats. Based on the amount of competition and celebration in store, we can safely say we’ll be in for one heck of a ride!
- Date: Saturday, July 30
- Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Cost: Free to attend