We often here the debate of super crews coming out of the larger clubs in Canada and how it is bad for the sport. Is it? Maybe there are 1-2 super crews per city, and then a league system for everyone else that feeds it.

If we look at who they are now then we're looking at 6-8 clubs, which is not that unhealthy:

Halifax (beasts)
3R
22D
Ottawa (vacant so far, or scott seaby gang)
Toronto could support 3-4, Frenchman's bay, OH, NDC, Alliance, Missy
Sudbury
False creek
1-2 from the prairies

so 10 super clubs in a major league set-up. the rest of us in the minors.

don't know why I'm writing this. Just a random thought, but thinking of how the sport could build itself in the future.

National champs could then support 2 divisions: one for the elite, and one or more for the rest.

If you are talking "Club Crews", there isn't much "super" happening at MCC other then GSK & Jetstart and the one month old Stonehookers. These three teams have no affiliation with each other.

NDC is being discussed in another thread, so I won't go there.

I guess you could throw SRP into this mix. Piranhas and Scotia-Rouge

What about the women teams?

who cares

Look, having any elite club in your area that feeds off other clubs for specific races is somewhat of a good thing. The experience these paddlers bring back to their clubs is priceless and makes that club better. Its slowly coming together here and to be on a boat with paddlers who love the sport the way you do is so refreshing in that its nice to be on the same page enough to focus on "getting better" and absorb the great instruction.

I believe a "Club" should consist of a bunch of teams of various levels from casual to serious , from beginer to elite. The club could field elite or all-star teams for certain events such as club crews or even national team qualifiers. PDBC and Outer Harbour function along these lines.

PDBC performs like that - novice to experienced
OHDBC - is simply a collection of teams training out of one base

Only one super cr3w.

There's still some allegiance between OH teams.

"Ottawa (vacant so far, or scott seaby gang)"

I'd love to see Ottawa develop some kind of club structure. Unfortunately, Dragon Boating in Ottawa is way behind on the evolution curve, with most paddlers sicking to the same crew for their entire paddling career - regardless of the boats performance, potential, or drive to improve.

Even setting Events Alive aside, there are still a number of very talented paddlers around: you have some previous senior national team members, cascades women, Rideau and ORCC members, and a handful of strong paddlers sprinkled throughout various boats. I can't imagine anyone in Ottawa having the passion or vision to make something like this happen but it would mark a huge step forward in Dragon Boating here.

...until then I'll stick to Outrigger.

Victoria could build another super crew in place of the defunct Gorging Dragons and there'd be 2 out of BC again

What happened to gorging? Too many people retired after malaysia?