Team History

Founded in 2002, formed in 2002, the Red Dragons was one of the orginal clubs that started dragon boating Florida. We remain a cornerstone in the Florida dragon boat community with 60 strong members as well as a new edition of our own Red Dragons youth team ages 9 -18. We are young and moving positively forward as an organization. Our teammates live on both the east and west coasts of Florida, as well as New York. We train as 'family and friends' by complimenting each others strengths and weakness and building on the uniqueness of our ages, skills, cultures, life experiences, personalities, and professions. On our boat, we have twenty-two hearts which 'Beat as One'

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


    1.    How do I join the Red Dragons?
    2.    How much is it to join?
    3.    What will my membership fee cover?
    4.    Level of fitness, experience required?
    5.    Try out before deciding to join?
    6.    Is attendance at practice mandatory?
    7.    What should I bring or wear to practice?
    8.    How often are practice held?
    9.    Are the Red Dragons looking for sponsorships?



How do I join the Red Dragons?
Please contact our Event Coordinator Adriana Oliva to schedule a tryout. 

How much is it to join?
We collect membership fees every 6 months (1st membership fee is collected on January and again on July).  We do this so we can recalculate for any new expenses (races, practices, jerseys, etc.) that come up during the year.  Our current membership fee for the 6 month period is $40.00

Membership fees cover?
Membership fees include
1. Practices (this is our major expense)
2. Food and drinks for races
3. Advertisements (banners, flags, flyer's, stickers, etc.)
4. Website maintenance
5. Misc. expenses (awards, picnics, etc.)
 
Membership fees do not cover for actual race entry. Race entry fees will be based upon who can attend that particular race and divided evenly.

Level of fitness and/or experience required?
No experience required, but high level of spirit will be needed to participate.
 
Try out before deciding to join?
You will receive two free practices before deciding to join.
 
Is attendance at practice mandatory?
Attendance at practice is strongly encouraged, and is one of the factors used by our coach when finalizing rosters spot for race events.

What should I wear or bring to practice?
You will get wet so wear any athletic clothing that you don't mind getting wet, please bring your own water or Gatorade as a refreshment.

How often are practices held?
Every Saturday morning please click here for our Training Schedule page for times and locations.
 
Are the Red Dragons looking for sponsors?
The Red Dragons D.B.R.T is accepting sponsorship from Corporations as well as individuals,
for more information please click here for our sponsorship page.

Letter from the Founder


Dear Red Dragons

 
Several teammates have inquired about the history of our team.  As the team founder I never gave a proper introduction or how the RD came about.  Now that we have grown into a stronger, bigger and better team, I would like to shed some light on how this evolving sport of dragon boating became part of my life. Here’s how we became The Red Dragons.
 
Born in Hong Kong, I’ve experience a great share of dragon boat festivals during my grade school years.  For the ones I did not attend, I would watch them on TV. At the time, I could not understand why the paddlers would slow down during mid-course. I used to think that if they would paddle really fast from start to finish, they would win. Obviously, there’s more to this than just fast paddling.
   
On June 2002 I saw an ad. in the newspaper regarding a 2 days dragon boat festival held in downtown Las Olas, Ft Lauderdale. I read the ad and decided to form my own team. While reading the ad, I was excited, however, nervous at the same time because the possibility of having a full team was not a certainty. I had called everyone in my phone book that I thought would be interested in participating. The ones that were interested called all of their friends. Luckily, we had just enough participants to form a team for that regatta.
 
We were ready! However, due to my lack of knowledge in dragon boat, days before the race, I reached out to a dragon boat head coach in Stanley, Hong Kong seeking advice and guidance. It was easier said than done. Even with his advice we still did not have a clue on what we were doing at the 2 practices we had before the race, however, one thing we had perfect was balancing the boat.
 
Back then dragon boating was not as popular as it is now.  Actually, less than 10% of the people I contacted had heard about dragon boating. I was so eager to participate in the South Florida’s first dragon boat race, I contributed the entire entry fee. I figured that if I told our team that they had to pay to participate, then not as many would of, thus, no team.
 
Red Dragons started as a men's team and slowly converted to now a mixed team. Hopefully, within 2 years we will have enough members to have 1 strong men’s division as well as a women's division. The original members that are still with us today are Larry Ho, Bill Yim, Dave Su, Phuc Nguyen and Darrell Chen. Without this dedicated group, the Red Dragons would not exist. I want to thank each and every one of them for their hard work, mental and physical contribution, and attitude as they are a huge asset to our team.
 
I want to thank everyone, especially the newer members for their trust, loyalty, hard work and team spirit. Red Dragons would not be where we are today if it were not for you all. I could not have asked for a better team than this, I am so proud of what we have, what we’ve become, what we’ve learned and achieved throughout these years. I know that we will have a successful future in this evolving sport and will continue to succeed while growing stronger together as one hell of a team!


Dennis Yu
Proud Captain of the Red Dragons
feb 05