MANNING River Dragon Boat Club is hosting its fourth community regatta at Endeavour Park Taree on Sunday August 4.
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Last run in 2011 in conjunction with Dragon Boats NSW, this year's event will be the first the club hosts independently, though with the assistance of DBNSW officials.
The club is expecting hundreds of sports competitors from up and down the coast and is calling on community and corporate groups and individuals to enter teams to ensure a great day's racing.
Community and corporate teams can include sports clubs, businesses, community organisations, schools, families or friends. Teams consist of up to 26 paddlers.
"No experience is necessary and if you can't get a team together we can help you form one or join in with others,'' publicity officer Shane Manahan said.
"We provide training, equipment, drummers and qualified sweeps for the day to ensure you have a fun and safe experience on the water. We even supply life jackets if you're not a strong swimmer. It's a great chance to try something new or to compete again if you've given it a go before. Dragon boating is the fastest growing water sport in the world and the Taree Regatta is the ideal event to see paddlers in action."
The 2011 regatta saw hundreds of sports and community paddlers compete, watched by a similar number of spectators. The 11 community teams who competed included students from St Clares, Wingham High and Chatham High. The Manning club is again hoping for community support as it is vital to the success and atmosphere of the day.
The Manning Dragons have been together for almost five years, and in that time have had great success at State, national and international levels. The club is particularly keen to attract more men to enable it to be competitive in mixed events, and more juniors to join those who had such success at the State and national titles in April and in Hong Kong last year.
The regatta begins for sports teams on Saturday August 3 with a 2km race followed on the Sunday by the 250m sprint races for sports and community teams. The day runs from 8am to 3pm culminating in the awarding of trophies.
The upcoming regatta would be a great chance for anyone interested in trying dragon boating to have a go. The beautiful Manning River also provides the ideal spot for spectators to come and watch the weekend's races.
Entries close on July 25. Contact Jennifer Schubert on 0401 019 313 or Shane Manahan on 0403 774 891 for further details.