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Jan 5, 2009

The 2009 Competitive Season is here!

We officially kicked-off the 2009 competitive season this past weekend at practice - great job to all who made it out! Since our origins in 2002, we've experienced continual growth and competitive success - all without losing our sense of team and fun - and we look forward to more in 2009! This memorable ride is going to continue and only get better!

Practice attendance is tracked during the competitive season, so be sure to sign-in at practice.
Also be sure to thank Captain Pearl for continually maintaining the team's attendance records (amongst many other things). Attendance can be regularly viewed via Google Docs.

2009 Competition Schedule
We currently plan to participate in 5 tournaments, kicking off our '09 tour at the Tempe Town Lake & closing out in style in the San Francisco Bay. And sandwiched between 2 convenient competitions on our home turf will be our first-ever trek to international soil, where we (finally) head north to Vancouver to go head-to-head with what promises to be our toughest competition, on a very large and grand stage!

Dates - Locations - Tourney Managers
Mar 28 & 29 - Tempe, AZ - Tina
TBD (~May) - Long Beach, CA ("Baby LB") - Devant
Jun 20 & 21 - Vancouver, Canada - Tran
Aug 1 & 2 - Long Beach CA - Galen
TBD (~Oct) - San Francisco, CA - Wade

Go ahead and contact the Tourney Managers with any questions you may have - and be sure to give 'em a hug for their efforts!

Requests of YOU!
The team leadership will spend countless hours and energy to coordinate 2009, but as always it's for naught without plenty of help from each of you! Thank you all for continually looking out for one another and for the greater team - that's what really keeps us going!

Here are just a few specific things that all our paddlers can do throughout the year to really help:
  1. Practice, practice, practice! The sport is incredibly unique in it's true embodiment of teamwork - we are only as strong as our team, and our team is only as strong as each individual member! Also remember that practice attendance is a major consideration when it comes to team rostering and substitutions.
  2. Continue to recruit! We've been continually blessed with new family members and we got plenty more love to share! Continual new blood, enthusiasm, and energy are a very important lifeblood for the team!
  3. Please pay your dues in a timely manner. We strive to keep this sport as affordable as possible and in doing so we we really depend on this to ensure we have sufficient $ in our account to do things like register for our various competitions. All this said - we know how tough times can be (especially these days) - if you ever have any hardship, please don't hesitate to let us know - we never want $ issues to stop you from paddling!
  4. Please keep us informed. Managing & coordinating a large roster is challenging, and you keeping us in the loop of your plans to participate in tourneys and miscellaneous events helps immensely. Links to all evites for team events can be conveniently found in the signature of each weekly email digest - thanks in advance for keeping them current with your responses!
  5. Please help out with Fundraising events & Sponsorship leads! As mentioned, we do our best to keep this sport as affordable as possible to all, and every dollar raised helps! If you have any fundraising ideas or leads with potential sponsors, please let us know!
Cheers to a happy & healthy 2009,
Pearl, Tran, Wade