Will there be more competitive teams with fewer recreational teams?

Will there be fewer events because smaller festivals won't be supported by the top teams.

Will costs continue to escalate or level off?

Will there be peace in the valley between GWN and TCBA?

Will there be more competitive teams with fewer recreational teams?

No. There will always be a place for recreational teams. If anything, the level of competitive teams will decline. The current fever pitch cannot be sustained. BUT high school and flatwater teams will rise to the top as they take an increased interest in dragon boat.

Will there be fewer events because smaller festivals won't be supported by the top teams.

No. Small festivals will only fail if the local community does not support them. Out of town teams are gravy, and don't factor in all that much. Local festivals WILL fail if local business stop sponsoring local teams. This is the real threat.

Will costs continue to escalate or level off?

Cost will level off. They will have to, because big corporate bucks are levelling off. We may have to see a rough year or two before the activity centres realize this.

Will there be peace in the valley between GWN and TCBA?

I see a long, cold war between these groups. There will be the odd bit of cooperation, but this will be set back by the odd brush war over something silly (life jackets, anyone?). Too bad, because in their own way each group has helped elevate the sport.

What do life jackets have to do with a TCBA-GWN thing?

Has the number of competitive teams changed in the last five years? Five years ago you still had the same competition and close races, except everyone was at a lower level. Dragonboat's popularity keeps increasing, so there is going to be more teams, but there is always going to be top 10.

Just thought Id bring this thread back up, just a bit more than 5 years! Thoughts?

(cant believe its been 5 years since 2002 already)

Wow, I also can't believe it's been 5 years or Forum madness. But this question is cool to look at. Here's my cut at it...

Will there be more competitive teams with fewer recreational teams?
- I think the answer here is yes, kind of. Overall there are slightly fewer teams, at least in the GTA, but the upper echelon of competition is more competitive than ever. But teams come and go.

Will there be fewer events because smaller festivals won't be supported by the top teams.
- I'm surprised that more regattas haven't been cancelled. Most of the smaller regattas are still around, except for a few that FMG ran into the ground.

Will costs continue to escalate or level off?
- seems to have leveled off. Even TIDBRF has had to offer more bang for the buck to stay alive.

Will there be peace in the valley between GWN and TCBA?
- With Mike K gone, maybe there will be peace now. GWN is out of the practice facility business, and TCBA has trimmed this area as well. I think most of GWN's regattas are now in the U.S. So Peace in our Time.

Smaller regattas are still around because the locals come out and support.

The lost revenue from one or two competative out of town crews is easily made up by additional local crews.

Here's my opinion from a U.S. perspective:

"Will there be more competitive teams with fewer recreational teams?"

There will be MORE teams in the U.S. as the growth of this sport continues. For example, dragon boating is now a varsity high-school sport in Philadelphia. On the West Coast, the d-boat scene has exploded in Long Beach. Many teams start a rec teams but then become competitive as their skills increase. Some culbs maintain both rec and competitive teams.


"Will there be fewer events because smaller festivals won't be supported by the top teams."

More teams should equal more events. At the very worst, the amount of events will remain the same.


Will costs continue to escalate or level off?

If anything, costs should drop as more manufactures and service providers enter the dragon boat business. Prices escalated because the growth of this sport was not predicted by those who could make a business off of the sport. Now that the sport has grown, more business will compete for the dollars of paddlers, bringing prices down.