On the eve of the the AFL grand final 2019 (27 September 2019), current and past members and friends of the CYSM Sea Dragons gathered for a wonderful celebration in honour of our retiring head coach, Coach Joe Alia.

Below is an account of the night by club president, Claire Tan.

Coach Joe has been head coach of the CYSM Sea Dragons for the last 15 years.

Having been a dragon boater himself for 40 years, he conceded that when he took on the coaching position, he promised to himself that he would do so until he turned 70. This year, he celebrated his 70^th birthday and we reluctantly accepted his retirement (although he now holds a much more fun and relaxed role in our club as a mentor to our coaches).

The evening of celebration began with the perfect charcuterie board and sushi platters overflowing with colour and flavour at Joe and his wife Connie’s beautiful home in Thornbury. Generous servings of main dishes – paella fresh off the pan, chicken wings, and pulled pork tacos - then followed. Just when we thought that that was the end of the offerings, we were pampered with pavlova, muffins, cheesecake, and the beautiful and flawless chocolates made by the professional chocolatier Milissa Meyer.

Joe came to us several times that night expressing his awe at the quality of food that we had catered (no we did not hire any caterer because we knew we’d do it better, the CYSM way).

It is one of the best parties we've ever thrown and we are glad that it was for and because of Joe.

We then took a trip down memory lane through the visuals and photographs collected throughout the years when Joe led us to dragon boat competitions. It was a touching moment that all of us who were present shared, looking at group photos of different years, seeing how Joe’s hair turned from black to grey.

In his speech, Joe reminisced that he had seen the club when it was at its lowest point, when the club was merely an association of people doing dragon boat as a social activity. Over the last few years, he has seen the progress of the club, of members getting more serious about their individual as well as the club’s performance. He proudly claimed that the club is now a true dragon boat sporting club, and that he is happy to pass on the baton to our newly appointed head coach, Carlos Diz, with the confidence that the club will continue to achieve greater things.

Joe has never told us to go to a regatta and win something. He has always asked us to be the best that we could be, and most importantly, to enjoy ourselves. We sure did, and we will continue the legacy that Joe leaves.

Thank you, Joe.