2009 Year in Review

Squad	Division	Place
Black:	Mixed A Semi-Finals	2nd (2:06.75)
	250M Championship	1st (1:05.43)
Red:	Mixed B Championship	4th (2:24.06)
Pink:	Breast Cancer Survivor Cup

March 28-29 - Tempe, AZ

Wow, another fun dragon boat-filled weekend in Tempe, Arizona! It was nice to see that the races ran so smoothly this year- things were pretty much on time and the organizers didn’t have to cancel any races.

LARD brought up 2 teams – Red and Black (along with Women and Men crews). Historically, LARD approaches the Tempe race as a good time to bring out new paddlers and allow “less seasoned” paddlers ample opportunity to get some races under their belts. This year was no exception. It would have been great to have our full team up there, but I’m sure a lot of you guys (and gals) are pacing yourselves for a long season with our “A” races looming on the horizon. Right?

That being said, I was absolutely impressed with our results – Red advanced to the B Division Finals. Although Black was eliminated in the Comp A semis, Black was able to record the fastest time in the 250 meter sprints. Not too shabby. Our men and women both made it to the Finals in their respective divisions.

Hats off to UCLA and the Space Dragons – both teams had absolutely stellar and unprecedented runs. We can see how hard you guys have been training. You (and your coaches) deserve a big pat on the back. I am so happy to see the teams paddling out of Long Beach getting faster and faster. It raises the bar for all of us. Keep up the good work! Perhaps, most importantly, I am happy that UCLA can destroy SC in dragon boating – maybe some day I can say the same thing about football. ;) (love you, Aileen!).

DPW ran some great races – and thanks to the DPW ladies (and Nathan for allowing them to paddle with us) for rounding out LARD’s women’s crew.

It was also nice to see the Electric Dragons run some solid race pieces. The Rogue Warriors/Thunder Dragons composite also looked great (Henry, we missed you in Tempe!).

The KG/San Diego composite also looked fabulous. Keep up the good work! It’s always nice to see the KG crew and watch the “seasoned” SD team lay down the wood.

Our very own LA Pink Dragons had a stellar tournament – improving their best time from last year by 28 seconds! You ladies ROCK! All of your hard work is paying off!

All and all, a great time. Hell, how can the weekend be bad if you are paddling?

-Scott

Squad	Division	Place
Black:	Comp A Championship	8th (1:59.25)
	Guts & Glory	8th (10:35.70)
Red:	Rec A Championship	1st (2:01.84)
Men:	Open Championship	7th (2:01.87)
Women:	Rec A Championship	1st (2:20.03)

June 20-21 - Vancouver, BC

Hope y'all arrived home safely, and are easing back into work with healthy distractions of reflecting upon another fun and memorable weekend of paddling and traveling with the crew, whether it was your very first Rio Tinto Alcan Festival, or for some, your 10th visit to False Creek. As my first race of the '09 season with the team, I can only begin to describe how complete the trip felt by saying that it was filled with so many experiences, both on and off the boat, that remind me of just how unique this team is, and what it is that makes us...LARD.

With regards to competition, I feel this has been our strongest showing thus far. LARD was 7 years old when we finally reached club crew heaven by becoming Rec A Champs in '05. To have fielded 2 crews this past weekend that affirmed our place in two highly competitive mixed divisions at this venue is something everyone should feel proud of. Having said that, I hope you share the same sentiment that we are capable of even more!

Selflessness, teamwork (1/4 of red crew we just met Fri afternoon/Sat morning!), camaraderie, establishing new friendships, continuing long-standing ones, adapting from race-to-race, paddling with spirit/heart/inspiration/fire/fortitude....these are all elements of our team's personality that shined throughout the weekend. And as we came together post-G-'n-G to close out the weekend, it was particularly poignant to hear Debbi, one of our newest 'local' teammates to come aboard for the Women's crew, remark upon how unique it was--relative to most other paddling clubs she's been involved with--to see how much we supported one another as a team, rather than a group of individual crews. For me, it was definitely a this-is-why-I-heart-LARD-moment. Thank you, team.

Last but not least, a huge THANKS to....
- our newly-acquired Alcan teammates and B(DB)FFs Albert C, Ivan B, Debbi, Kim, Doug U, Doug M, Paul: Consider yourselves LARDmates, in this growing paddling community I know we will cross paths again.
- fellow coaches: Scott (HPC liason, the guy traveled injured just to coach, and indirectly, inspire), Chuck (seating genius, coordinating with volunteers), Otto (seating and steering stud), and Leon (motivational/steering guru, post-race events coordinator)
- Mike Young and HPC for developing specific programs that help us to expand our potential and perform beyond our expectations
- directors: Jessica (joining us from Seattle) and Evelyn for being our race managers and keeping us informed with the latest stats/times of our upcoming races. Diane, for being our travel manager and securing our comfy lodgings so far in advance, we are all wishing you a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing you back on the boat! Lilly for lugging our paddles to-and-from YVR, Directors for arranging Sat night dinner...
- Phil, and those who helped in taking pics, for capturing invaluable footage of our races. We have a lot to learn from them, and they'll undoubtedly help in preparing us for our upcoming races...
Best,
Jason

Squad	Division	Place
Black:	Mixed IA Final	3rd (2:15.42)
	200M A Final	1st (0:50.37)
Red:	Mixed IB Final	7th (2:20.82)
White:	Mixed IIIA Final	7th (2:29.06)
White:	200M B Semi-Final	3rd (57.66)
Men:	Open A Final	2nd (2:11.60)
Women:	Women A Final	4th (2:36.33)
Pink:	200M BCS Final	2nd (0:58.51)
	Womens BCS Final	3rd (3:01.67)
	Mixed IIIC Final	7th (2:58.32)

Aug 1-2 - Long Beach, CA

Just like that and we are all staring at the Long Beach Tournament in the rear view mirror. Man, it went by so fast, but what a great ride it was.

Our team's performances were nothing short of spectacular. As I expected, we placed very well overall. The house was protected. What I didn't expect was to learn something about this team's character in the face of adversity.

As a coach, one of the hardest things to do is to motivate - hands on with yelling? hands off and let you guys figure it out on your own (and hopefully not get too beat up in the process)? That is what the coaches battle with.

Turns out, we got it right.

Sure, LARD Black's performance in the 200 meter races were fantastic. That being said, what I will take away from this tournament was "Guts". Guts to look adversity in the eye and challenge it. Guts to keep fighting. The epitome of this was the 200 meter races for both our Red and White squads. Both teams started in less than ideal positions, but instead of phoning it in and easy paddling to the finish line, you fought. You fought for yourself and you fought for your team. I got more satisfaction watching those 2 races than I did witnessing the Black's victory in the 200m final.

Your character also showed after the race, with the steersman taking the blame even though it wasn't their fault. The warmth you all showed after the race made me proud to be associated with this team.

That being said, enjoy your week then let's hit it hard this weekend so we can represent the way I know you can in SF.

How will you make yourself better for our team?

~Scott

Squad	Division	Place
LARD	Mixed	1st Place (time?)
Men:	Multi-team	1st Place (time?)
Women:	KG-LARD	1st Place (time?)
Pinks:	BCS	2nd Place (time?)

Aug 15-16 - Lake Gregory, CA

Lake Gregory is one of the prettiest venues we've paddled at. The lake has all these huge cottages that face the water, a few of us stayed in a nearby hotel facing the lake.

It's cool at night - we had cheese and crackers on the balcony and enjoyed the fresh air, until a skunk wandered by. The races are surprising tough on us - even though the shorter length (300m) due to the lake size constraints should have helped.

The high altitude of 4700 feet is hard on your lungs. Personally, I had a problem with breathing. I think the trick is to breathe deeply on each stroke. The boats are vintage long beach (not the big yellow ones, but the next fiberglass issue) so they feel a bit different from the sleek boats we practice in.

The bonus: Water slide rides after the races!!!!

Huay.

Squad	Division	Place
Mixed	Mixed C	1st (1:52:85)
Mixed	250 Mixed	3rd (1:16:66)
Mixed	2000m Bridge Race	4th (9:47:84)
Pinks:	Women 500m Consolation	2nd (2:17:81)
Pinks:	BCS 500m	2nd (2:38:10)

September 12-13 Portland, OR

Hey Team,

Hope everyone is looking forward to the season closer up here next weekend! Not too much to add to what's already been posted on fb, the pics and video (great job again, Phil!) say quite a lot. That is, we met up with familiar faces; made some more friends (Wasabi, Amazon, Pink Phoenix); witnessed our very own Pinks rise to a new level of competition; learned from and improved upon each of our pieces; shopped, dined (yes, actually sat down at Mac Grill) and napped between heats; and topped off our Sunday Best 500m Final (Mixed C, 1st place) with a good 'ol fashioned G'nG 2000m race...well, most of us at least...[grrr.]

Just wanted to thank all of you who made the trek up to Portland this year another fun and memorable one!! Though I can't compare it to the team's experience at Camp Gregory (so jealous by the way...waterslides??), I hope the relaxed atmosphere of that venue was everything a handful of us have hyped it up to be since the team's last visit in '03-'04. A special thanks, too, to our LARDmates up north in Vancouver (Debbie) and out east in Boston (Doug). We will be sure to send you our 2010 race schedule!

On a race-related note, paddling on the Willamette River last weekend--with its intermittent wake from motor boats going up and down--really forced everyone to adapt quickly to rising/falling waterlines in order to enter cleanly at the catch and follow through with a full blade. Please keep this in mind at practice tomorrow, as we're likely to face identical--if not worse (windier)--conditions in the afternoon at Treasure Island.

Keep up the hard work, just two more weekends left in our 12th Season! See y'all soon!

Jason

Squad	Division	Place
Black:	Comp A	1st (2:10:60)
Black:	Visiting Team Cup	4th (2:04:55)
Red:	Rec A Seeding	5th (2:15:39)
Mens:	Open	2nd (2:01:65)
Womens:		3rd in seeding
LA Collective:	Masters	6th (02:11:14)

Sept 26-27 - Treasure Island, CA

How do I describe this past weekend? Simply unbelievable.

Two days later, I still can't believe what happened.

Flash back to Tempe. LARD Black was eliminated in the semi finals. Remember that? I had to remind myself that the season was a long journey. At that time, I was hopeful as to what we could accomplish but I had no idea what the season had in store for us. Not a clue.

Absolutely stunning performances were turned in by all of our crews last weekend in San Francisco - our Men finished 2nd in the Men's Championship (losing to a Canadian composite team), our Women paddled great in their division, and Red paddled brilliantly as they frequently paddled against many teams' top crews.

Black's performance was a team performance. You are all responsible for the result. Every single one of you. It doesn't matter that you weren't in that boat. Doesn't matter if you didn't even make it to San Francisco.

This win was yours. This win was ours. We all played a role in winning the Competitive A Mixed Final for the first time in our history (and as a result breaking the Canadian curse). We each played our part. We trained together, encouraged each other, and even challenged each other. That's what makes a team great. And for one weekend, LARD was indisputably great.

This season's journey is now over and you made it a season that I will never forget. Thank you.

Enjoy your off season. Cherish the memories. Then, when it's time to hit it hard again, I expect you to play your roles even better than you did this year.

The target on our backs just got bigger.

~Scott

TeamLARD,

Over a week later, after my throat has recovered and I've caught up enough with work, I am finally able to write a couple of notes of reflection (on our last races and our season overall). Bear in mind that this may be lengthy, as it attempts not just to look back at some of those memories made, but also forward to give you all a head's up on all the exciting events still ahead. Note that there are some items that I'll need your responses to (at the bottom), so please pay careful attention; there'll be a test afterwards (hint. I have bolded, indented AND asterisked* all such items, like *this)...

REFLECTIONS ON PORTLAND & SAN FRANCISCO & THE 2009 SEASON

Wow. With all that's already been written, all the photos, videos, shared stories, laughter, giddiness and excitement, I can't think of a better way for our season to close. What a ride. As a way to preface these reflections, it might be useful to look at how it began...

After watching, did any of you know what our 12th season would bring? What were your expectations then? What do you think now? Through the timeline of my involvement with the team, each season has truly been different. Sometimes the race schedules are the same. Same venues and familiar competition. Some of the same faces. But somehow, each experience has been independently different. The make-up of our team is different year-to-year, race-to-race, the dynamics, the contributions that you as individuals bring to the table. This year far exceeded my expectations for how fun and different it could be. And it's not about winning (though you won't hear me complain when we do).

This year, we had milestones as a team and individually (which ultimately as a family, impacts us all the same). We shared in the memories from each of the separate races - an Arizona season kick-off, Alcan finals repeat representation, to Long Beach home turf defense, to the YMCA camp Gregory, to the paddling vacation in Portland, to the season-ending triumph in TI. We worked hard, sweated, shared laughs, woke up early, stayed up late; we lived this team with each other. We made new friends. We had to deal with the national politics of an election, challenged with impacts from the economy, a health scare with John, a new birth (Congrats Joe & Yonnie), some imminent (but very temporary, right Lorena/Todd?) goodbyes, graduations, the maiden launching of Art's OC2 and his paddle art contest, our paddlers proudly representing us in Worlds/China/etc. - these are but a few of the many things that constitute the intertwined experiences that help define our memories of LARD's 2009 season.

THE NON-OBLIGATORY THANK YOU'S

I say non-obligatory because it isn't a requirement to acknowledge, but a honest feeling of gratitude that I am compelled to mention:

Our team leadership.

The board. Captains, coaches, Team Mom. I don't know if eveyone truly understands the breadth and depth of the organizational work you do. The success of the season cannot be mentioned without first pointing out those who helped run this team. Execution, organization, finances, analysis, and performance. With each iteration of our leadership, the bar is set higher and higher. Amazing job. I cannot express any appreciation that would be adequate for what you all deserve.

At races. Our race managers have been invaluable and are part of our equation for success, in race preparation, schedule, and outlook. In the case of TI, we had Jessica and Evelyn. Our equipment managers and those who assisted with transportation, for TI, Lilly and Vicki. Lunch and dinner organization, in TI Mike, Betty, and Otto. Diane for hotel arrangements. A special thanks to Dieselfish for an escalating smorgasborg of hosting goodness. We'll get 'em back in LB! Now this mention names some of the individual contributions to TI, but there are clearly so many of you who participated in this capacity throughout the various races this season. Kudos to you!

Kenny and Eddy for the website. Everyone, see for yourselves. A fantastic body of work. And an impressive integrated database to support the function of the team. You have outdone yourselves.

Phil. No description necessary here. Everyone knows. Thank you.

Our team leadership, Part Deux.

Each of you. All of you. Those of you who step up to inspire the team. To support through encouragement and example. Fighting in races, pushing each other in practice. Leading on and off the boat. New cheers from our lyrical ninja Will, to the cheer-leading voices of Megan and even Matt! As I have said before, each and any and all of our team accomplishments are shared. We are ONE team. We advance one another, carry each other, and influence us to do our very best for each other. You should all be proud; you have all accomplished a season worth celebrating.

OUR FUTURE...

cannot be brighter. In looking back at the beginning of the season, what can you imagine next year will bring?

As excited as I am at the prospects, it's important for all of you to make sure you recover yourselves, fully renewed for next season. While we remember a season full of wonderful memories, joyous celebrations, and fun, it also admittedly required a lot [of you]. So as we head into the off-season, coaches instructions are simply to have fun. Stay fit. Explore opportunities for cross training. Our goals for next year. Same as always. Let's improve. You got the shirts with the slogan on it, "imPROVE YOURSELF. IMPROVE YOUR TEAM". Apply this to your goals for the off-season. And have fun. Regardless of your choices in the coming months, we'll still be at the beach as always, Saturday and Sunday (except this Sunday w/LB Marathon).

-Leon

Award		Winner
Jack Ko Award		Phil S
Most Improved (veteran)		Alison W
Most Improved (novice)		Aileen C
Most Spirited		Crystal W
Most Inspirational		Scott W
MVP		Lorena Y
Best Hair		Aaron F
Biggest Eater		Jeff C
Mr. Congeniality		Mark F
Ms. Congeniality		Lorena Y
Latest		Jeff C
Biggest Facebooker		Scott W
Biggest Splasher		Hugh N
Best Sportsmanship		Bill T

Nov 14 - The Grand, Long Beach

Being my first time organizing the banquet I was a bit worried. Remembering that time was an issue last year, I wanted to have the agenda done orderly where we would stay on time and not fall behind.

Last year, I felt we rushed out of the room and didn't get to say our goodbyes. I am thankful to have Andrea, Cheryl, Lorena and Jessica to help with the banquet.

Assigning each person to have a task allowed me to work out an agenda where everyone can agree on. Jason and Karen did a great job for the first time volunteering to be the MC's that night. This year I added additional awards to give to our boards, coaches and captains.I was surprised that Lorena made one for me since I wasn't expecting anything, but to have the banquet go smoothly.

The fun part of the night was funny how Will and Kenny both won the BJ's gift cards and how Nick went to claim his prize. Jim had everyone think he won the second raffle and how loud James was when Kat won. Then there is Greg who is a great singer who was able to perform for us again. One of the most memorable part of the banquet would be Phil's video. He always has something new to show us each year and it definitely shows how much he puts into his work. Toward the end of the banquet, I was surprise that we had lots of time left where my back up plan was to have Leon do a closing of the night. Afterward there was enough time for everyone to mingle the rest of the night and say their goodbyes...mostly to Lorena :(. We will miss you!

- Cathleen