The Killer Guppies Dragon Boat Team

We’re getting close to the Orange Coast College Relay for Life. We sooooo close to our goal. I know it’s getting close to the crunch time, but if you know someone with some extra change, let them know about this event and let them know that they can support us in a big way: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/RelayForLifewithKG

If you’ve been coming to paddle, just a small tidbit, there are three people on the team who are cancer survivors, so this event really hits home to us. Can you imagine not seeing one of your team member come to practice because he or she is at home trying to cope with cancer? It’s really hard to think that the person you are paddling next to might not be your benchie the next day. This event is a unique event that it brings so many people together to find a cure for cancer. It’s not curable now, but with continue support and research, we just might be able to find a cure in our lifetime.

So let everyone know. This isn’t just about an event, it’s one way as a Guppy, you can support your teammate who survived it, is going through it, or might be going through it.

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Happy Duanwu Day!! Or Happy Dragon Boat Festival Day! Today is the day that Chinese and east Asian societies observe the festival that bears the name of our sport.

So what’s the significance of this day? Well depending on which tradition you hear, today is the day that Chinese people celebrate the life of a very famous poet Qu Yuan . The most beloved poet by all, he died by drowning in the Miluo River. Chinese farmers tried to save him by throwing stick rice paddies, called zongzi , into the river to stop the fish from picking at his body. Farmers jumped into their long narrow boats to paddle out to retrieve his body. It was said that their boat and the paddling rate resembled that of a might dragon traveling at light speed. This is where dragon boat racing started.

The story of Qu Yuan survived generations and to this day, Chinese people celebrate the anniversary of his death, the fifth day of the fifth month on the lunar calendar, by eating the sticky rice paddies that were offered to the fishes and race on Dragon boats.

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Teammates, Friends and Family:

We have a chance to help find the CURE for cancer. This disease has affected many of our friends and family members. On Saturday, May 30, we will participant in our 2nd Annual Relay for Life 24 hours Cancer Walk/Run to raise money for the CURE. Please support Killer Guppies by donating money via the team website or time by walking and cheering team KG on the track of Orange Coast College. Your support is vital, please help us! Please contact Kevin Chan or Steve Kashynski for additional information.

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/RelayForLifewithKG

Killer Guppies

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A few of the Guppies will be participating in the Los Angeles course of the Ragnar Race. And just what exactly is the Ragnar Race? It is a 177 mile long run from Santa Barbara to Dana Point. Teams of 12 people will be running legs of the race, that’s about 3 or 8 miles, but each team member needs to run 3 legs of a race.

It is physically demanding race, but racers will be running down the Pacific Coast Highway, this means two days of spectacular views the whole way down.

So wait wait, how the heck does 12 people run the race? A person in the team needs to be on the course the entire time, but once the person finishes his/her leg, there will be a team member who was dropped off at the next stop to swap out with the runner.

The Guppies are expected to pass by Long Beach on Sunday morning, so come wearing your Guppy jersey, or if you’re just curious to see them, stop by Mother’s Beach. And while you’re there, you might as well jump on a boat and paddle, paddle, paddle.

Check out the Ragnar site for more info: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/losangeles/index.php

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Hello Guppies,
We recognize that we are all feeling economic pressures during these tough times. Layoffs, foreclosure and bailouts dominate the news.
One small way to help our team members is to extend the Early Bird reduced membership dues through May 1st! “Thank you” to Gary & the board for coming up with the idea in order to accommodate these difficult times & unanimously agreeing to this.

We do not want finances to get in the way of obtaining basic needs. We view fitness as free health insurance. Paddling with KG adds competitiveness & makes it that much more fun. If you haven’t been doing it for yourself, make yourself a priority this year. Fitness is a part of maintaining your heart health & everything that follows with a great routine only adds bonuses.

Secondly, do it for the team. The programs designed by the team benefit YOU as well as the team as a whole. It always feels great when working hard with others & accomplishing the results together, succeeding as a team. The goal is the finish line; but how & with whom will we cross it? Thus, one goal of ours is to not allow financial hardship to stand in the way of KG participation & membership. So this is a reminder, if you haven’t already done so, to take advantage of this while you can. You can hand in your membership to Steve or Karin at practice, via Paypal online at http://killerguppies.org/blog/join-us/be-a-guppy

Please make your check for $135 payable to Killer Guppies.

For any questions regarding membership, you can post your question to the group or contact Steve &/or Helen directly:
steve.kash@gmail.com

hcle1@yahoo.com

All of the above is simply to say these are challenging times, we care about you, & we want to help.
Other comments or suggestions for the team in general can be addressed to Steve or Harry or any of the board members, Karin, Caroline, Peter, Stephen, Rebecca, Gary as well as myself. Our ears are open & we always want to maintain an open dialogue with all.
Wishing you all the best for a great LB Spring race!!

Helen
KG Treasurer

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Spring is in the air and so are sales. The Guppies is having their Spring Special. Until May 1st, the 2009 Membership has been lowered to the low low rate of $135. You heard me, membership dues have been lowered so that you can take advantage of the 2009 Season. Your dues covers membership, the Long Beach Spring Race, and the Long Beach View Sonic Race.

So take advantage of this lower rate. You can bring a check to practice and hand it over to Captain Steve or pay online (a small fee will be assessed if you pay online): http://killerguppies.org/blog/join-us/be-a-guppy

Also, this Sunday is NEWBIE DAY!! If you have friends who have always wanted to try out dragon boating, well here is their chance to come on out. It’s going to be WARM WARM WARM. So invite them out to give them a taste of the dragon boating world.

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Hi Tempe Crew and Guppies,

I hope you all had a good time, especially newbie’s John S, Gwen, Chris S, Sala and Diane. Tempe Crew, thank you all for making the long trek to Tempe and for making our season opener race possible.

I know we all rose to the occasion, but if it was not for the help of San Diego, we would not be in the Division A semi-finals. We were very fortunate that we just made it into Division A. Many thanks to San Diego’s Crew. Please read other comments about the detailed race results as they have posted on Yahoo groups.

We had solid representation from LA. Lard had two full crews, Space Dragon had two full crews, DPW had two full crews, USC had two full crews, and our team, Killer Guppies, had ¾ crew with 5 newbie’s on the crew roster. What happened to the other ¼? Did we not want to come out and represent our team? What happened to team pride and spirit, did that change with the economy too?

I know we did well last year and as I have said, it’s harder to stay on top when you are one of the top teams in Long Beach. The upcoming teams are always trying to reach the top spot too. Once you are on top, it is harder to maintain the top spot. To stay on top, we must continue to do what made us successful. The hard work and dedication does not stop, it increases.

We had a late start this season compared to Lard and Space Dragons; they started their season practices as early as December not late February. Clearly, their early season practice schedule and aggressive recruitment campaign had paid off as the early results clearly indicated in Tempe. Space Dragons were in the last race of the day and we were not.

Guppies, I ask you all, what do you want to do? Be a recreational team again? Continue to stay competitive? What are you willing to do? What is your commitment? Will I come to all mandatory practices? How are we going to recruit more paddlers, where and how? If everyone can recruit one person, then our team membership will be double.

On May 2, 2009 Saturday, I would like to have a team meeting to discuss these matters and concerns if we want to continue our success from last year.

Thanks
Coach Gary

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HOLY COW!! It’s racing season and what a great way to kick off the season with the Guppies’ first race THIS WEEKEND!! They will be heading to Tempe AZ to participate in the 6th Arizona Dragon Boat Festival in Tempe, AZ.

The Guppies have been practicing really hard, even paddling in the rain and crazy wind last weekend. So send good vibes their way.

Also if you are racing in Tempe this weekend, don’t forget to sign the waiver and give it to Steve before Friday at 11pm. Your first race is at 8am! But you need to get there before 7:15am to stretch and marshal.

Good luck Guppies!!

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OH MY GOSH!! Our first race of the season is coming up fast, which is next week!! That is very soon. Last week we started our race sets after weeks and weeks of working on our endurance. By Sunday we looked awfully strong. So if you’ve been coming to practice, you guys are doing a great job!! If you haven’t been coming to practice, the question is why not? Even if you’re not racing, you can help the Guppies who are by helping them get stronger.

Plus, we’re going to see if we can knock Coach Gary off of the boat with our start. So helping our team get strong AND getting our coach soaking wet… sounds like fun.

Also, there is a pre-race meeting after Saturday’s practice. MUY IMPORTANTE to come if you are going to Tempe, AZ.

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