Dragon Boat Come and Try day
Over 30 veterans and family members joined Invictus Australia and Dragon Boat ACT at a Come & Try day in Canberra earlier this year, to welcome new Defence families to the area and connect with local veterans looking for ways to stay active & connected.
Lake Burley Griffin, one of Canberra’s most popular recreational facilities, provided the perfect backdrop for the event, as participants were exposed to the many skills it takes to master this unique sport.
In a show of community spirit, all ACT Dragon Boat clubs were present, and participants were able to receive an in-depth session to try the sport.
The Clubs and volunteers had prepared a well thought out session including, warm up, cool down and on land demonstrations prior to hitting the water. The on-water session gave a great insight to the sport and was challenging for all participants.
Regional Manager, Veteran Engagement (Southern NSW and ACT) Debbie Dimmock was thrilled to have such a great turn out to her first official event for the year.
“To have over 30 members of our community come out and give a new sport a try is a testament to the work that is happening in this area.” Dimmock said.
“Some of the participants have only been in the ACT region for a few weeks due to new postings so an event like this is not only a great opportunity for them to try something new, but also meet a whole bunch of new people.”
“Having community groups in the region that are so open to hosting and running events like these is vital to ensuring we are able to deliver great services to the veteran community,” Debbie continued.
Invictus Australia will be hosting a number of come and try days across Australia this year, covering a huge range of sports as well as festival-style, multi-sport events. To keep up to date with all these events, connect with us on our local Facebook Groups, run by our team members on the ground.