Coach Todd Wong has raced dragon boats since 1993 and began coaching teams in 1995. He has studied Sports and Health Psychology, as well as Kinesiology and exercise management at Simon Fraser University, where he was awarded SFU’s Terry Fox Gold Medal for “courage in adversity and dedication to society.” Todd serves on both the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival Race Committee, and the Dragon Boat Association Board of Directors. In 2001, he organized NCCP Coaching Theory Classes for dragon boat coaches. In 2002, Todd was a guest speaker at the first annual FCRCC Dragon Boat conference addressing the History, Sociology, and Team Dynamics of Dragon boats.
Todd’s coaching style and methods provide a supportive setting for people to experience both dragon boat competition and culture, while addressing team-building, goal setting and overcoming challenges. Todd utilizes many sports and topics for inspiration. He emphasizes a holistic blend of body, mind and spirit and takes teams to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Classical Garden for a tour and Tai Chi lesson to learn about Chinese philosophy, culture, and movement expressed in harmony and balance.
40 minutes of warm-up and instruction followed by 90 minutes of on water instructional paddling.
- FCRCC Certified Technical Coach
Objective: To give people the skills necessary to paddle a dragon boat and work as a team.
To give each person a sense of accomplishment: both as a team and as individuals.
To develop both team and personal goals, and to meet them.
To integrate physical, mental and emotional experiences.
To build a sense of community, team spirit, and have lots of fun.
Method: Warm-up and stretching exercises are integrated with paddling mechanics.
Bio-mechanical exercises will be used to develop dragon boat stroke.
Team building exercises will be integrated into practices.
Instruction will include modeling, verbal cues and educational correction.
Mental training techniques will include visualization, motivation and cue-words
Communication strategies and styles will be discussed.
Information on exercise management and nutrition will be included.
Supplementary cross-training activities such as running, swimming, canoeing and weight-training will be explained and encouraged.
To reach Todd, and to join the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team, please call 604-987-7124 or e-mail gunghaggis@yahoo.ca