New Team Pre-Water Practice Clinics
Held:  May and June, Tuesday and Wednesday nights,  7 to 8 PM – 2nd floor Lloyd Hall

All teams that are new to the Philadelphia International Dragon Boat Festival are strongly encouraged to attend a Pre-Water-Practice clinic.  The purpose of this clinic is to give the entire team helpful information, and answer any questions prior to attending its your first water practice at Lloyd Hall.  That way, every team will get the maximum amount of time on the water paddling, instead of losing time on the dock getting organized.

These clinics are for the entire crew of 25:  1 Drummer  20 Paddlers, and 4 alternates, or as many as can possibly make it over to Lloyd Hall, 2nd floor. Topics that will be discussed include:

• Dragon Boat equipment
• Loading and unloading a boat
• Crew positions in a Dragon Boat:
• Strokes
• Drummer
• Forward third
• Engine room
• Aft third
• Paddle: Left vs right
• Weight distribution
• Boat seating chart
• Teamwork
• Race starts
• How to have fun while paddling hard

Dates for Clinics:

To schedule a clinic, Captains please e-mail me with two (2) choices of dates that most of your crews can make.

Contact:

Mike Gramsammer, New Team Pre-Water Practice Coordinator
mikegramsammer@aol.com

Drumming Clinic

Held:  May and June, Tuesday nights, 6 to 7 PM – 2nd floor Lloyd Hall

Why:  So Drummers can learn how to lead their teams through practices and races.

How:  By teaching drummers:
  The Dragon Boat stroke
  Drills designed to increase the team's strength and ability to paddle together
  Race strategies
  Rules of the river 
  And more!

Who:  ALL drummers.  Space is limited.  Pre-registration is required.

Contact:

Lindy Rustam, Drumming Coordinator
LavillaLindy@gmail.com

Steersperson Training Clinic

Held:  April – Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 7 PM; May and June from 6 to 7 PM and 7 to 8 PM

All teams are required to have a PIDBF Qualified Steersperson for their summer practices.  There are no exceptions to this rule.  Those teams that currently do not have a PIDBF Qualified Steersperson or have not made arrangements with an already PIDBF Qualified Steersperson, should find a volunteer … preferably a team member or team support person, who will not be paddling during the team’s summer practices.  Once the team finds a volunteer, the team captain should contact the Steersperson Coordinator to setup and schedule the necessary training clinics where the volunteer can train and become a PIDBF Qualified Steersperson.  If there is any question on whether a volunteer is already a PIDBF Qualified Steersperson they should contact the Steersperson Coordinator.

Steersperson Training usually takes place in the spring prior to the summer practices.  Please note that each training session requires a minimum of 10 team paddlers and no more than 16 team paddlers along with the volunteer trainee.  On average, it has taken a volunteer 2 one-hour training sessions to qualify.  Once the volunteer trainee has been determined to be qualified by the PIDBF Steersperson Trainer, that volunteer will be added to the PIDBF Qualified Steersperson List and will be allowed to steer for any team’s summer practices.  Please note that no PIDBF Qualified Steersperson will steer on Festival Day.  Steerspeople for Festival Day are provided by the festival organizers.

Contact:

Jim Dolan, Steersperson Coordinator
jdolan1@voicenet.com

Launch Driver Training Clinic

Held:  April – Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 7 PM;   May and June from 6 to 7 PM and 7 to 8 PM

All teams are required to have a qualified launch driver to provide safety support for the dragon boats during all practice sessions.  Candidates can either be a paddler or supporting non-member of the team.  Candidates will learn how to operate the motorized launch as well as the rules of the river and what is expected of them in case of an emergency.  Candidates can usually qualify in as little as two training sessions.  Unless the launch driver is a non-paddling member of a team he/she will usually volunteer to drive the launch for anothr team's practice so as not to conflict with their own team's sessions.

Contact:

Carl Gallatig, Launch Driver Coordinator
carljohntig@verizon.net

Captain's Meetings

Held: Tuesdays in March—6:30-8:00pm

Returning and new Captains are strongly encouraged to attend one Captain’s Meeting in the month of March to be held on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 until 8 PM at Lloyd Hall on the 2nd floor.  Team members are welcome!
 
At this time, you will meet our Coordinators of Steerspeople, Launch Drivers, Drummers, and New Team Pre-Water Clinics who will share with you new and important information regarding this year’s Pre-Festival Training.