The annual End of Season Awards Night for the 2017/18 Season was held on Saturday, 5 May 2018 at the Golden Fleece Hotel, where friends and family from CYSM Seas Dragons, CYSM HQ and guest paddlers from Melbourne Flames and Yarra River Dragons gathered together to celebrate the successes of the season. Over the course of the night, our M.C.s Young Tan and Kai Lin introduced the night and set the stage for what was going to be an eventful night!

After a hearty set of entrees and mains were served, the Captain and Committee Awards were presented by the current club committee to members who demonstrated their invaluable contributions to the club.
 

Captains Awards

Sue Phung - for showing initiative and leadership on and off the water. She fast-tracked her L3 sweep accreditation, in her second season, to help address a sweeps shortage in the club. She also conducted sprint sessions to improve the team’s running technique and cardio levels.

Jack Chui - for going the extra mile this season, attending regattas despite life commitments (Rui pregnant with Joanne). Jack's attitude has always been "What does the club need me to do?"
 

Committee Awards

Commendation

Fung & Sui Lay - for their proactive contributions to the club as our Swiss Army Twins, always assisting the club with their craftsman skills.

Cindy Lu - for her contributions to the club, particularly as Treasurer and dutifully managing the club's financial affairs.

Yuan Soon - for working tirelessly to modernize and implement recruitment strategies for the growth of our club.

Appreciation

Meyer Family - for their time and effort contributions at club events and for sponsoring one of their paddles to the club.

Mon Lo - for her thoughtfulness in assisting club members with the purchase and delivery of paddle equipment all the way from Hong Kong by way of her family.

Shen Loh - for his contributions to the club, particularly in organising club logistics towards the interstate AusChamps2018 campaign.

After two yummy mains of duck and lamb were served, the long awaited Club Awards and Coach's Choice Awards were presented by our Captains Palmy and Cat and our Coach Joe.
 

Club Awards

Team Spirit - Male and Female

Shen Loh and Young Tan - for going out of their way to improve feelings of camaraderie among our members, enabling the team to cooperate and work well together and to promote our core values: Respectful, Caring, Responsible.

Best Paddler - Male and Female

Eric Cham and Mandy Li - for showing the best performance during the races this season and having displayed the best technical skill and fitness during this season.

Most Valued Paddlers (MVP) - Male and Female

Eric Cham and Mandy Li - for contributing the most to our club this season and for displaying the most commitment to our core values: Respectful, Caring, Responsible.

Most Improved Paddler - Male and Female

Kai Lin and Katie Nguyen - for improving the most from the previous season to the current season.

Best Rookie - Male and Female

Justin Nguyen and Grecia Foong - for being a first year member who has demonstrated the best performance during the races this season and for displaying the best technical skill and fitness during this season.
 

Coach's Choice Awards

Kai Lin and Young Tan - for his/her commitment and effort towards training, as well as willingness to learn and adapt.

Thank-yous

From behalf of everyone at CYSM Sea Dragons, we would like to extend a warm thank-you to all the family and friends who have supported us in the 2017/18 season, in particular CYSM HQ for their generous donation to the club. As the Australian Championships was held in Sunshine Coast, it was costly for the team to participate. However, CYSM's support helped alleviate the financial burden of our paddlers and made sure that we could take 30+ competitive paddlers to the Sunshine Coast to compete our hearts out!

To Joe, who has been with the club for a million years, thank-you for staying with our club through all the ups and downs, and for always believing in us and pushing us to achieve our personal bests. We hope that we have made you proud these last few seasons and that we will continue to grow and develop as a competitive sporting club for years to come.

Thank-you once again for giving us the opportunity to demonstrate how much we have grown as a team to the rest of Australia, enabling us to beat our personal bests and to also set new records in the history book. We cannot wait for the next season to come!