Fifteen youngsters enjoyed an hour out in a dragon boat on Monday evening.

A 'Youth Training Session' for youngsters aged between twelve and eighteen has been started by the 'Cambridgeshire Royals', and last Monday night (14 July) nine boys and six girls turned up to have a go at dragon boat paddling in the royals boat - The Duchess.

The session started from the Coneygeare Park in St Neots and the youngsters were accompanied in the boat by members of the adult team.  They group enjoyed learning how to paddle, how to keep in time, working together as a team, and generally how much fun it was, despite getting a bit wet.

At the end of the session the youngsters got out of the boat with big smiles on their faces.  One of the youngsters, William Macey aged 14, said: "That was fun, I really enjoyed that.  I am recovering from a broken leg as I broke my leg in a car accident back in February, but being in the dragon boat meant I could do a sport without having to worry about my leg".

William, who goes to Ernulf Academy, added "I went along with three other friends from school.  Lewis Pitchford, one of my friends, is already part of the team and he convinced us all to come along and have a go.  I really did enjoy it and I would love to have another go really soon, I might even think about joining the club in the near future."

Team Manager Paul Saywell said: "From the very start of forming this club we wanted to get youngsters from our town into our dragon boat to experience what we already know is a great sport.   We would love to have a team that can compete at the national finals each year in September, this may be difficult this year, but it is definitely something to aim for next year. 

Paul continued:  "We can only try and encourage youngsters to build a team and will give them all the support they need. There isn't many sports that a parent and their children can actually do together.  Well in dragon boating they can, it would be great to encourage the British Dragon Boat Association (BDA) to run a junior event at each race day, and this is surely the way forward.

We are looking to run our next Youth Training Session on 10 August, meeting at the Coneygeare Park at 11am.  Parental consent is needed so contact us on 07736 311031 or email us at info@cambridgeshireroyals.co.uk and we can give you all the information you need.

Mums and dads, if you would like to try your hand at dragon boating and join in the excitement, then why not join us too at one of our regular Sunday morning training sessions from 9am.

Photo 1 - the Youth Team

Photo 2 - out on the water