KP Dragon Healers Team Structure

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1 Coaching Staff KP Dragon Healers Team Structure Head Coach Assistant to head coach Coach Men's competitive and Physical FitnessTrainer Coach Women's competitive Head Steersperson Warm-up leaders Ross Britt.Lawrence Pang Brian Soo Kathy Pollonais-Britt Cindy Huang Viv Lew Jenny Shih Administrative Staff Captain Assistants to captain Treasurer Hospitality leader Race day timers Equipment Event planning Historian Kathy Pollonais-Britt Josephine Shew Chang Davis Leong Jim Phillips Sandra Louie Francisco Chong Tony Eugenio Scott Williams Jenny Shih Tracy Goins Karen Kruse Viv Lew Eileen McCree Debbie McNeil Bruce Anderson

2 Hello Healers, Six months ago we started on a magical journey. The journey has been one of excitement, rewards and recognition for our team. We had goals which we wanted to accomplish. Grow The Team: Our team grew by a full new crew. We formed a recreational crew (Red crew), a competitive crew (Gold crew) a competitive men and a competitive women's crews. We created a system where paddlers of all levels could find a place on our team. Each paddler can self select" their level of participation. Our Fact and Expectation packet explains the system, which is transparent and very important for a team. Independence: This season our coaches became more proficient and confident in their roles. This is evident by the amazing achievement of the team this season. Next season we will be developing an assistant to the head coach and a women's coach. We have four paddlers trained to steer for practices. They are awaiting certification. Volunteer Activity: At the core of our team philosophy is giving back to the dragon boat community Healers volunteered at the youth races in April. 2. Healers sold tickets for the Macy's Charity Day where 2570 of the proceedings went to the CDBA and 7570 to our team. 3. We adopted Washington High School Dragon Boat Team this season. We donated technical shirts and sponsored a crew from the team to enter the races at Treasure Island. This season was an amazing one for the Healers. The veterans welcomed the newbie's, who added their own unique imprint on the team. We are now considered legitimate members of the paddling family in Northern California. We have so much to be proud of. Each of you gave your very best to the team and the community. As we close the season we thank our supporters: Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Administration, our big brothers and sisters of Dragon Warriors, especially Davin Kitahara, my mentor Hans Wu, our friends Diesel Fish, Wila Chun, and our families (human and canines). I value your trust in me and I am humbled by it. I hold it sacred. I thank you for allowing me to lead you on this journey. See you on the water!!!!!! Kathy

3 Kaiser-Permanente Dragon Healers San Francisco, CA Subject: 2007 Dragon Boat Season Dear Dragon Healers: Coaching the Gold and Red Mixed Teams this year was very exciting. I always looked forward to seeing everyone twice a week. Practice is all I could think about most days for the few hours leading up to practice time. Every paddler seemed happy for another opportunity to paddle and enthusiastically made the adjustments requested to better their technique. We witnessed tremendous improvement in all paddlers from both the Gold and Red Teams. That improvement is evident by our performances at Redwood Shores, Long Beach, and Treasure Island. At Redwood Shores and at Long Beach we exceeded all of our goals. We shattered last years times at both festivals earning the -bronze" cooler in a higher division at Redwood Shores and a 4 th place medal at Long Beach. Long Beach was our first -road" trip with a full crew. Placing 1 st in our division's semi final was clearly a highlight. 5 Healers were fortunate to be invited to join DeiselFish and the Stanford College team at the Festival in Vancouver, BC. We finished a strong 3 rd in a consolation race, learned more about paddling, increased Dragon Healers exposure in the dragon boat community, and forged several lasting friendships. Treasure Island was a great success. Our improvement over last year was remarkable. We are the talk of the dragon boat community in the Bay Area. We elevated both the Gold team (made up of mostly 1 year of previous paddling experience), and the Red Team (made up of mostly no previous paddling experience) to the Rec B Division. We raced against some of the most experienced and established teams in the festival. The Gold team finished 3 rd in Consolation B and the Red team finished 5 th in Championship B. Both finishes were very strong and close. The Gold team represented the Dragon Healers in the Healthcare Challenge. A highlight of the Treasure Island festival is sharing the 1-2 finish with KP Dragons. We should all be very proud of our accomplishments and mostly of our improvement this year. We were able to achieve these great things by being committed to improving and working hard during practice. Please all come back next year so that we can continue to build on these accomplishments. Thank you all for a great year, Happy Paddling, Ross

4 Greetings Healers, The 2007, Dragon Boat Season has come to a close for the Kaiser Permanente Dragon Healers. In reflecting upon our sophomore season as a competitive team, not to be trite, we really have a lot to be proud of. We are a respected team in the community, and we are getting better. New friendships have been forged, and we are functioning as a cohesive unit. As we move forward, I know that this team will continue to improve and spawn a fully functional, competitive men's team. We certainly have an eclectic group. If it were not for paddling, we may have never met one another. This is one of the true beauties of this team sport. Now, we are collectively working towards common goals, and everybody is paddling to the very best of their abilities. Next season, we will continue to focus on our paddling technique while on the water. Off of the water, we will add a strength and conditioning regimen. This will hopefully give us more confidence, add flexibility, and reduce the possibilities of injury. There continues to be a dearth of men on the Healer's squad. I can only hope that this will change for next year. Though I certainly did appreciate the contributions of the two Puff Dragons from Miami, who joined us for the season finale, I would love to have more than 20 of our own male paddlers with the desires and skills to compete. Our race-time at Treasure Island was impressive for a group that really had no opportunity to work in its integrity. Most often we were at least six paddlers short for our practice sets. Our performance will improve if we can get even stronger. Thank you all for allowing me to be your coach and mentor. Perhaps, most of all, I enjoyed getting to know each of you on a personal level. I will be looking to improve my game, and I hope you will all again join me for the entire next season. Take It Away! Brian Sao, Coach

5 Saturday mornings at Lake Merced Despite this being a most challenging physical year for me, practicing with our present group truly has been the most rewarding...it's a great crew and I am proud to be part of it. Onward to TI. -ern Thompson "This has been one of the best team sports I've ever participated in. The Dragon Healers are all wonderful people - thank you Kathy and Ross for your leadership and making this a great workout as well as such a fun sport!" -Rozone Gee

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7 Redwood City races I joined the team as a way to stave off extra pounds, attain a healthier lifestyle, and meet people outside of my daily work group. The experience has exceeded all my expectations, except I still have the extra poundage. All the coaches, and teammates have are so supportive and encouraging. It's almost like having a personal trainer. My gratitude goes to Kathy, Ross and Brian for keeping us organized, focused and cohesive, and also making it fun. -Karen Chin

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9 Long Beach races I really appreciated the professional approach and organization of our team captain and coaches. Having guest coaches occasionally helped me to really understand and integrate the fine points of a technique. It took me half of the season to understand and appreciate Winston's sense of humor: I'll miss it in the off season! What can I do with all of my spare points?!? The timing box rules! We may be small but we're MIGHTY! I thought I only had to multi-task at work! Nobody told me I'd have to remember to rotate, maintain a 5 degree angle, push with my gunnel leg, keep the top hand high, exit at mid-thigh, enter the water at a positive angle, don't pull too soon, stab the water, AND watch my strokes!!! - Tracy Goins

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11 Dragonboating is a water sport...you will get wet....1 reflect back, what a "dork" I must of looked like in those early practices both in technique and with my hair all wet and spiky --I was actually worried that I would not make the team-- it didn't matter, nobody cared. It was just one big happy Family. We all had fun, and got better with each practice. Best of all we hit "Pay Dirt" at Redwood City and Long Beach. I'm proud to be on this team. -Jessie Lim

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14 Healers having fun off the water "The physical demands of this sport were well beyond my expectations. Thanks to our awesome coaches, we managed to stay strong, paddle long, and have a great time through it all. What impressed me most is how well we Healers improved our timing, our individual endurance and power, and adapted to the needs of injured teammates like yours truly. Thank you guys." -Alex Sigal Healers hike Mt. Tam

15 Bonding with our boat Now Healers, listen up! Francis is giving instructions. Leave me alone, I have to meditate before I can start. Ross, be careful with that brushl

16 Ok, be sure you mix the varnish well. Teamwork guys, you cannot move the boat alone especially without paddles!

17 Rozane, you look marvelous darling, but lefs clean the boat. ---

18 Healers Pasta Feed It's been a great year and it's wonderful to see the spirit and dedication to dragon boating. Kathy and Ross have taken the team and each of its members to the top of the class. I'm grateful to be a part of the team this year and hope we will continue to grow. Go Healers! -Davis Leong