Namoi Dragons celebrate successful debut year

The Namoi Dragons celebrated their one-year anniversary as a sporting club last month and also held their annual general meeting to prepare for the coming 2023/24 season.

The Namoi Dragon Boat Club have gone from strength to strength since they became affiliated with Dragon Boats NSW on July 4 last year.

From the acquisition of a boat and other essential equipment, to the club’s first paddle, training session and competitive regatta appearance, to supporting the local community and helping out with fundraising for important causes, one of the newest sporting clubs in the Narrabri Shire has certainly made a positive impact and is here to stay.

The local club’s inaugural president, Karen Kirkby, stepped down from the role at the annual general meeting last month following a successful maiden season at the helm but is confident that the club is in safe hands.

She will remain a part of the club as a general committee member, with former vice-president Kirk Harvey stepping up into the president’s role.

Other committee members for this season are Gerard Lonergan (vice-president), Fiona Groeneveld (secretary/public officer), Joan O’Neill (treasurer), Sam Dixon (membership registrar), Louise Stewart (publicity officer), Alison Young (equipment officer), Trudy Staines (regatta co-ordinator) and Jane Longstaff and Karen Kirkby (general committee).

Harvey told The Courier that Kirkby had done a wonderful job forming the club and leading it throughout the inaugural season, and added that the club’s first year was successful.

“The first year of the club was very much a success,” Harvey said.

“We hit the ground running and got the boat donated to us by Outback Dragons at Dubbo. From there, we did an expression of interest in the community and got people to come down for a come-and-try day, and we kept building from there with more and more members.

“Karen did a fabulous job as our president. She brought a new sport and sporting body to Narrabri. A sport that’s available to so many more members of the local community, no matter whether you are young or old or fit or not. Everyone is able to do it, and a lot more people come along for the social and fitness side of things more than the competitive side of things.

“To be able to hit the ground running and within 12 months have two boats, a new container, and all the uniforms and everything else set up has been an amazing effort by her.

“The whole committee have done a fantastic job too.”

Kirkby outlined how the club had grown across the past 12 months and the many contribution to the local community that the Dragons had made in her president’s report at the annual general meeting. She also said that she felt a great sense of pride.

Namoi Dragons members with the club’s new tens champion series boat. Pictured are Joan O’Neill, Nicole Bogdanoff, Sumudu Bandarage, Jane Longstaff, Karen Kirkby, Louise Stewart, Sharon Borchardt, Gerard Lonergan and Kirk Harvey.

“I am so incredibly proud of this club’s achievements and each member’s commitment to supporting this club,” she said.

“I have been proud to be the club president for the past 18 months and look forward to our club growing, thriving, and enjoying this wonderful water sport.

“I would like to thank our dedicated committee members. In our first year, we had 22 members ranging in ages from 11 to over 60 years.

“We also had another 22 dragon pass members joining at various come-and-try days.

“Members competed in regional regattas at Orange, Parkes, Sydney, and breast cancer survivor regattas in Melbourne and New Zealand.”

Looking to the future, Harvey said the club was thrilled to have recently acquired a second boat and that the hunt for a third boat had begun.

“We’ve just got a second boat, a tens boat, so we can have more consistent training as that boat doesn’t need as many people to get it out and running,” he said.

“We do want to get another 22-seater as well because the one that we currently have is a training boat, not a champion series, which are the actual competition boats that are significantly lighter.

“I’d also very much like to get our container set up at the Narrabri Showground too, with the mural done, so it looks like a more proper and official clubhouse.”

Harvey also announced that the club would continue to paddle every Sunday morning at the Narrabri West Lake and that Wednesday evening sessions would also resume when the warmer weather arrives.

Extra sessions at Narrabri Aquatic Centre are also held on Tuesdays and Thursdays for those who seek extra fitness as well as conditioning for the competitive teams the club sends away to regattas.