Watersports in Leeds: Meet Leeds Dock Paddle Boarding and the White Rose Canoe Club

National World - LocalTV

Looking to make a splash in Leeds? We met Leeds Dock Paddle Boarding and White Rose Canoe Club at Roundhay Park to discover what the two groups provide.

Transcript

00:00Hello, my name's Dean Jordan. I'm one of the lead coaches here at White Rose Canoe Club.

00:09I'm also the head of paddle sports at Leeds Dock Paddleboarding down at Leeds Dock at

00:13Royal Armouries. Today's one of our annual challenge days. We try and do two a year.

00:17We did a training day last weekend for our qualified staff to make sure that they're

00:22all in tip-shop shape and hitting all the criteria. So at the moment there's a little

00:26race going on where they're doing a quick relay. So it's all great fun. Along with a

00:31couple of friends, after we sort of got too old to help with scouts at the Old Walk Centre,

00:35we started what was then the Fernville Canoe and Kayak Club. From that we developed the

00:39White Rose Canoe Club. If anybody who's never tried canoeing wants to try it, they can come

00:43along a couple of times, get the induction, the general feel of the sport. It's not for

00:47everybody and obviously as the weather gets warmer there's more people enjoy it than the

00:51depths of winter so we try and make sure the experience is a good one. And then if they

00:55like the club they can join us and then they come along at obviously member rates. Down

00:59at Leeds Dock we run various sessions throughout the week. So on Mondays it's Sup Polo. So

01:03it's a bit like lacrosse on water. Five-a-side football girls are out floating. Teams of

01:08three or four paddlers. Unless we're across at Supfest in the Lake District where we play

01:13teams of eight and just make the pitch a little bit bigger. Then on Wednesdays, rivers, paddling

01:19and local canals just as progression and certificated courses. Thursday evenings back in Leeds Dock

01:26introduction courses. Sundays a bit of a mix of every session throughout the day so start

01:32down there at half eight, nine o'clock in the morning. I went canoeing for about every

01:37time I've been with my papa every Tuesday and it's really fun if you want to try it.

01:44It's really fun. We came last Tuesday. We always go around the lake looking for litter

01:51and footballs and stuff. It's just a great way to end a Tuesday night. This is the hub

01:58really. This is where we all come together. It's the glue, the centre. But the club, I

02:02wouldn't like people to think that White Rose Canoe Club was just a lake based family club

02:07because just last year we had a group went off and do the entire length of the Caledonian

02:11Canal. We go over to the coast and do some surfing. We wait for it to rain and then we

02:16enjoy white water kayaking. We wear the right gear. We wear a helmet so we can't be notched

02:21unconscious. We wear a buoyancy aid so that we float and we don't have to work at swimming

02:25and kicking. So basically if you come out of the boat, either fall off it or turn over

02:29and come out of it, all you've got to do is sit there and shout your name and somebody

02:32will come and help you. You'll see that their confidence grows from when they first get

02:36on that water to two hours later when they're getting off. Their faces, the joy that they've

02:42managed it and nine times out of ten managed to stand up and stay dry. Everyone's concept

02:48is I'm going to fall in instantly. I've got some nice wide boards where it lessens the

02:55fact. I've also got some accessible boards which take wheelchair as well.

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