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My post to the team after it's been said and done.

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(Sorry for the LONG post) I'm just putting this out there because.

I agree with everyone's sentiment, we have a good base of members for a competitive team, but several reality checks are in order here:

1. This was/is a very small festival
2. Some teams came in with no practice, save the 3 sessions that everyone was entitled to
3. The worst Panthers attendance for a land practice was 4 people
4. The worst Panthers pool practice was less than half the boat
5. It was only 250 meters
6. Some people complained about how too strict and too frequent the practices were.
7. Some people dropped out once they realized it wasn't "recreational" enough.

I'm not trying to put anyone down, but we have to be honest with ourselves. Our team did very well in the scope of things, but in the greater scheme of real competitive dboat racing, we are still little baby Pampers.

We have potential, this I know. Although it was my first year paddling, I've known a LOT of serious hardcore paddlers. And I'm telling you now, 6 boat practices are not going to get us anywhere. Harsh, I know. If we're serious about wanting to do well (not necessarily win, though that would be nice) - we'd have to be committed. Does all 26 people on Panthers want to be this serious? Serious means proper diet, land practices in January, pool practices in Feb- April, at least 16 boat practices, all leading up to the events.

It would also mean our cardio fitness would have to double. We know now how tired we felt after 250meters, real races are doubled!

Lastly, I don't want to sound like a poopyhead, but I know for a fact that competitive corporate teams show up for every practice, not when we "feel like" or if it "fits in our schedule". I was telling some of my friends about our beginnings, and they were all horrified that the whole team didn't show up for every practice (especially when there were so little), and were still allowed to paddle.

I say this not to discourage, but to let everyone know how tough it is if we decide to go hardcore. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and I'd hate to waste all our efforts just to be mediocre.

An alternative is to keep this team and enter as a non-Company sanctioned team but with some corporate funding. If we can get everyone to be passionate about dboat for next year, we can fundraise and enter a team for ourselves. The logistics may be a little more daunting, and more people will have to pitch and organize. But, if you the team feels that strongly about keeping it together, I think this is the route to pursue.

We'll have to discuss more as the thrill of victory wears off. Let's enjoy our 15 seconds in the limelight. It's nice and warm there for sure!!
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....Does that sound too mean? posted by losir at 2:22 PM