What Has Happened to the Avon Paddler
and the Adult Paddler who just wants to train, race and have fun?
I was talking to John Carol the other night when he finished his paddle at Ascot and I commented that apart from 9 slalom paddlers, paddling, there were only about 5 other paddlers paddling out of Ascot that night.
He remembers when he bought a boat from Canoeing Down Under and was introduced to CDU flatwater training on a Saturday morning and a Monday night and white water training at the weekends in winter. There were always a lot of new people coming into the group and we had a good hit out and it
was fun. Now there are fewer paddlers and less training groups so a lot of the fun has gone out of training, he said, which I agreed with.
Although we seem to have a fair amount of paddlers in WA, the growth seems to be in Ocean Racing and Social Paddling, junior intake seem to be keeping sprint with good numbers, but we don’t seem to be attracting the Avon Descent type competitor or adult paddlers under 60 years old who want to
do the Avon Descent like they used to do.
With less canoe shops to sell Avon Descent type boats and no one really running Avon Descent training courses it has had a large impact on recruiting new members. The Avon Descent and training courses were once a draw card to paddling and club membership but the lack of paddlers wanting to do
the Avon Descent nowadays has fallen sharply.
There is much more for an adventurous person to do nowadays and to aim for. Once upon a time the Avon Descent was the Pinnacle. It’s what you tackled if you wanted a real challenge and when you succeeded you were a hero in other people’s minds. Now we have the Rottnest Swim, Multisport
Challenges and look at all the Mountain Bike Trails being constructed.
We now need a way of getting what few interested paddlers are out there to do the Avon Descent and join a training group or a club to restore competitive numbers.
We need training groups, not necessarily coaching training groups, but a bunch of paddlers who just want a good hit out and have fun while training and not necessarily wanting to be an elite paddler. Without paddlers though we will never be able to create these training groups. So we need
some new people.
The more paddlers in a training group the more it attracts paddlers to be in that training group. Once you lose paddler numbers it’s more likely that the fun aspect and the banter is lost and the training groups decline and the less likely a paddler will go to training. Miss one training
session and it is easy to miss another, which could eventually lead the paddler to try out another sport.
I talked to Danny Hockey on Tuesday morning. He can’t believe the change that has arisen to adult competitor numbers at the Ascot Kayak Club since he left to live in England with his partner Helen 11 years ago.
Competition is very important for a healthy balance in the paddle sport and our clubs. Competitors help create a lively club atmosphere. The club becomes alive when an event is on. Competitors spend money on races which helps to keep the disciplines financial so they can continue to create
events. Competitors or family members usually organise the events.
So what can we do to bring back the Avon Descent competitor and the 30 to 55 year old paddlers? First we must accept and admit we have a problem, which most people do realise, and most importantly we must develop some strategies to entice them back. The sooner the
better.
