Newcastle Dragon Boat Club
Dragons Abreast
Newcastle Dragons Abreast (DAs) is one of the longest running Dragons Abreast clubs in Australia. The club is a member of Dragons Abreast Australia, which is the national body for Dragons Abreast groups in Australia.
The Dragons Abreast motto is Move. Connect. Live.
How does dragon boating help with breast cancer recovery and management?
- Dragon boating is a fun, social, healthy and active sport for breast cancer survivors and those living with breast cancer.
- Oncology professionals agree that aerobic exercise and weight-bearing fitness play an important role in cancer recovery and cancer treatment. Dragon boating fits this bill!
- Dragon boating can give back confidence and hope through an understanding network of survivors who participate in the sport.
- Our members provide a human face to breast cancer statistics and spread the message of breast cancer awareness.
- For women and men living with metastatic breast cancer, dragon boating provides a safe and supportive environment to stay active while in treatment. Newcastle Hunter DAs includes several members with metastatic cancer.
Join as a breast cancer survivor or a supporter
- You can join Dragons Abreast as a breast cancer survivor or as a supporter.
- A supporter paddler usually joins because they have a close association with a breast cancer survivor or because their life has been touched by breast cancer in some way.
- We couldn’t do it without our very special supporters. In fact, in our Newcastle club, 2 of our 3 coaches are supporters.
Join as a breast cancer survivor or a supporter
- You can join Dragons Abreast as a breast cancer survivor or as a supporter.
- A supporter paddler usually joins because they have a close association with a breast cancer survivor or because their life has been touched by breast cancer in some way.
- We couldn’t do it without our very special supporters. In fact, in our Newcastle club, 2 of our 3 coaches are supporters.
How to join Newcastle Hunter Dragons Abreast
We would love to welcome you to our club. We find that our members come for the exercise and stay for the warm companionship and support.
- To see whether a DA group is for you, sign up for a Dragon Pass. The Dragon Pass gives you up to 4 FREE paddling sessions with the club on Sunday mornings. The Dragon Pass is valid for one month.
Get your Dragon Pass
- Contact the Newcastle DAs Membership Officer, Lynn Bourke, at newcastledragonsabreast@yahoo.com, using the subject line: Membership.
- If you have any issues signing up for a Dragon Pass, please email newcastledragonsabreast@yahoo.com and we will resolve the issue.
Training and regattas
We train on Sunday mornings, arriving at the Carrington clubhouse at 7.30am for a warm-up. Training is from 8am-9am.
- With a main focus on promoting inclusiveness and participation, some of our members also enjoy being competitive and attending regattas.
- In recent years, we’ve competed in New South Wales, Victoria, Adelaide Tasmania and New Zealand.
Contact us
For all general enquiries, please email newcastledragonsabreast@yahoo.com and we will contact you as soon as possible.
History of Dragons Abreast in Australia
- Dragons Abreast Australia was founded in 1998. The movement had begun!
- In 1999, Newcastle’s Melba Mensch attended a breast cancer advocacy training workshop. It was here that Melba heard about the Canadian initiative of breast cancer survivors paddling dragon boats for exercise and wellbeing.
- Our own Newcastle Hunter group was formed in 2000, beginning with just 2 members – Melba (who is still a member today) and Martine Hammond. Through perseverance and pure enthusiasm, the Newcastle Hunter DAs has grown to include many members – survivors and supporters of all ages and life stages.
- The movement continues to grow and there are now many DA groups across Australia.
