SPORTS HOUSE OPEN DAY – SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER 8AM – 11.30AM
Lock the date in your diary!!!
Come join us in celebrating the opening of our new Sport House & Boat shed. There will be plenty of activities on offer on the beautiful Lake Orr, so come play!
337 Christine Avenue, Varsity Lakes.
See you there!
CANCER COUNCIL QUEENSLAND REGATTA: VARSITY LAKES SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER 2011
It’s back! The Annual Cancer Council Queensland Dragonboat regatta will be held on Sunday 23 October, 2011.
This is a great opportunity for your work, gym or even social crowd to get fit and motivated. Come join us and help raise funds for a great cause!
To be part of this great day out on the water contact events@goldcoastdragons.com.au to register your interest!
Varsity Fun Run 22 May : Come Join Us!
Come join Gold Coast Dragons in the Varsitly Lakeside Fun Run held on Sunday 22 May from 7.30 – 11.ooam. If you are interested in joining our Dragonboat club, come visit us on the event lawn.
For more information visit: Click here
Sports House is progressing well!
For those of you have driven past lately, you will notice the Sports House project slowly coming to fruition! This has been a project a long time in the making and will be home to Gold Coast Dragon Boat Club.
The building located on Christine Avenue is expected to be completed in mid-late August.
Varsity Lakes Community Limited has registered the Sports House project with Australian Sports Federation which allows people to donate to the project. It lauched last month and was received positively.
- For more information, visit http://www.varsitylakes.com.au/sportshouse.
Club Event this Saturday 19th March @ 2pm – 4pm
We have now taken delivery of our new outriggers. So come on down to the compound between 2-4pm and try them out for yourselves.
Happy New Year and Welcome to 2011!!
Our training sessions have begun in earnest as it is now 8 weeks to State titles held in Kawana on the beautiful Sunshine Coast and 10 weeks to the Australian Championships held in Canberra. If you are a beginner wishing to join the sport of dragon boating, you are most welcome still and we would love to have you on board!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Last Training days for 2010!
Our last training day for 2010 will be Thursday 23 December. We will resume Tuesday 4 January 2011.
Our focus early on in 2011 will be the States and Nationals which are held 19 & 20 March, 2011 and 30 March through to the 3 April, 2011 respectively. Be prepared for the training regime to step up in 2011! See you then!
Kids In Need Regatta: Sunday 28 Nov
Paddle for Samoa
The Gold Coast Dragons hosted a Fundraising Event “Paddle for Samoa”, on the 31st January 2010. With the support of the Queensland Dragon Boat Federation Clubs, we raised $2,305 to assist a village devastated by the Samoa Tsunami in September 2009.
11 clubs participated on the day, and we would like to make special mention to these clubs for their support:
- Akuna Dragons
- Broadwater
- Burleigh Fire Dragons
- Coomera Dragons
- Currumbin
- Gold Coast Dragons
- Manly
- Mt Warning
- Redlands
- Te Waka
- Tweed Dragons
Two clubs that were unable to attend on the day also sent a donation
- Sunshine Coast
- Bundaberg Dragons
A special thankyou also to Merlin Paddles, that donated a Paddle Bag for us to raffle on the day, and our friends and family from all dragon boat clubs that volunteered on the day to make this day a huge success.
Samoa is an amazing country with fantastic reef, surfing, beaches, rainforest, waterfalls and a very laid back way of life. In September 2009, destruction hit this Pacific Paradise in the form of a Tsunami. With minimal warning early one morning, many villages on the South/East tip of the island were destroyed and swept out to sea. Many lives were lost, and for those that lived through the experience, they now fear the return of the angry sea.
Gold Coast Dragons club members (Kylie and Ian Peters and their daughter Talia) were due to travel back to Samoa in February on a Family holiday, so the idea came about to raise money for one of the villages, and for Ian and Kylie to be able to find a worthy recipient of the donation, and donate it in person.
This is the story of their trip….
The Gold Coast Dragons Committee had decided for the funds to go towards assisting the children in a Tsunami affected area. Prior to leaving for Samoa, we contacted Sa’Moana Resort (where we stay in Samoa) to ask for advice on how to donate money to a village needing financial assistance. We were put in contact with Samoa Hotel Association who were leading a “Tourism Tsunami Beach Fales Rebuilding Program”. This group recognise the importance of regaining the confidence of tourism as quickly as possible by assisting in the rebuilding of areas that had been severely affected by the Tsunami. Tourism is the main income source for Samoa, and it had been severely impacted on due to the majority of the Beach Fale Tourism accommodation destroyed.
When we arrived in Samoa, we drove to Apia, and met with one of the Facilitation Officers, Alexandra Mauli. Alex was a wealth of knowledge on which areas still needed assistance, and put us in touch with the Primary School in Saleaaumua Village. The $2305 converted to $5,000 Samoan Tala in local currency, and this was a very significant donation. It was decided to use this ST$5,000 to build a new playground for the children at the local primary school. We visited the village in person, and met the chief of the village and many of the children and parents. We heard their stories of the day the Tsunami hit. One missionary that lives in the village (Letiu Lee), who was our main contact in the village, explained to us the morning of 30th September. Letiu was woken from her sleep by the earthquake. After the shaking finished, she went out onto her small veranda and could see in the distance a large wave. She ran back inside to put on some shorts, and barely had the second leg in the shorts, when her house was lifted by the surge of the water, and carried 10 metres inland. As the surge of the water retreated, she clung to a wall of the house, and saw many of her fellow village friends clinging for their life to objects and trees. The Chief of the village, held on to a branch of a tree, with water up under his chin, and managed to survive the ordeal as well. Many others were not so lucky, especially children (who were on their way to school), and some of the elderly. While Saleaaumua village is now rebuilding, they have moved their whole village away from the coastline, up into the coconut plantation, in fear of another Tsunami. The beachside area is now a deserted ghosttown, with only the brave daring to rebuild or remain in damaged fales. We know that the donation we have provided will be very much appreciated by the children of this village as they rebuild their future.
Just recently we have had email confirmation that they have completed construction of the playground, with 2 sets of swings, 2 sets of see saws and 1 slide for the Saleaaumua Primary school. A sign will be constructed over the playground area reading “Donated by Queensland Dragon Boat Clubs”. Photos of the playground are are below. We plan on going back to Samoa early in 2011 on another family holiday, so we will be sure to visit the Primary School in Saleaaumua Village.
To view what the Samoan Observer has to say click on the link below:
Wet October: Training still on?
Just because it’s been forecast for a wet summer, don’t think we don’t train!!! Nothing stops us!! If weather is adverse there’s always a technique sesh in the Community Hall or the odd gym session! 
So come prepared! See our training page for more details.