Schools Program

Dragon Boat for young people

Dragon Boating is one of the fastest growing sports in Australia with youth participation at an all-time high. Dragon Boating is a unique sport for kids to get involved in from the age of 10.

What Dragon Boating offers:

Whole body fitness
Easy to learn actions that are repeated
Fun, team environment where everyone works together
Opportunities to race and compete
A non-contact, safe sport

Dragon Boating in Australia is a sport with a nationally recognised pathway. Young people begin their involvement at a club/school level and can go on to represent their state, or even represent Australia in the Auroras. There are local regattas in every state, and state championships. Each year, the AusChamps are held, with many events for juniors to be involved in and experience the thrill of racing at a National Championship level.

Dragon Boat in Schools

Schools can get involved in two ways: through Sporting Schools or directly through AusDBF- we have a dedicated Schools Coordinator- Kylie Archer (schools@ausdbf.com.au) who will align your school with a local coach and club who will help to start your Dragon Boating journey with some Dracademy taster sessions. These sessions will give students an understanding of the sport and give them the basics of safety and paddling.

From there, schools can choose to continue training in conjunction with the club to become regatta-ready, and able to compete at the many regattas across each state and territory. You can’t beat the atmosphere and community at a Dragon Boating regatta.

Sporting Schools

The other way to start your journey is through the Federal Government’s Sporting Schools grants.The Australian Dragon Boat Federation is the newest sport to come on board the Federal Government funded Sporting Schools program. Sporting Schools has 35 national sporting organisations which are eligible for schools to apply for funding, and then use this funding on. The aim of these 35 sporting organisations is to increase sport participation in schools.

Schools can apply for funding each term and go through an assessment, and if successful receive funding to be spent on a sporting opportunity for students. All funding must be spent within this school term, and any left-over funding is to be returned to the program for the next round of applications.

Any school across Australia can apply for funding: govenrment, independent or catholic. This funding is an amazing way to kick start Dragon Boat within your school.

Dracademy

Dracademy is AusDBF’s bespoke introductory program for schools in Australia. The program is designed to introduce the sport to as many new people as possible in an engaging an age-appropriate way.

The program teaches students the basic skills of Dragon Boating through a range of activities, games and challenges. We offer programs for Years 5 – 6 and Years 7 – 8 with a look to expanding to Years 9 – 10 shortly.

Coaches are specifically selected for their ability to work with young people and training is provided to coaches to make sure they have the resources and confidence to run these programs.

Dracademy is a great way to begin a Dragon Boat program within a school environment to gauge interest and get students excited about Dragon Boat.

For more information please contact Kylie Archer - schools@ausdbf.com.au