Last year we saw the tremendous growth of the Sea Dragons into a formidable foe for the rest of Victoria, and I dare say, the nation. This could not have happened without the support of the 2016/17 committee, who invested so much time and effort into making the Sea Dragons into a competitive team.

Following the club’s AGM on 15 July 2017, all 2016/17 committee members stepped down from their roles and members were called to either step-up or return to the committee for season 2017/18 positions.

The following members stepped down from their duties: Chris Phoumsavanh, Mon Lo, Jack Chiu, Vicky Chung and Fung Lay.

• Chris, having held captaincy for three consecutive years and presidency for the last four seasons, played an integral part to the Sea Dragons’ growth. Having his watchful eye over the team, Chris made sure that our spirit never died regardless of where we were (bottom or first in the race). He unconditionally invested his time and emotion to make us a better team. The team would not be where it is at today without his tireless commitment and persistent support.

• Mon stepped up and voluntarily took on the most cumbersome role of the board, despite having settled in Melbourne just over a few months. She has been a great help in carrying out all the administrative tasks on a weekly (or daily) basis. Our trainings would not be so smooth without her impeccable organisational skills, such as the weekly RSVP, boat booking, and setting up committee meetings.

• What do you do if you hurt yourself? You speak to Jack of course! Jack played an important part in the committee, as the sweeps coordinator and safety officer. He made sure that there were enough sweeps for each training session and on every race day. Whenever someone accidentally got a splinter, Jack was the one who made sure that it was recorded and reported, to ensure the safety of all paddlers.

• Vicky was our resident social events coordinator and helped organise social events such as catch-up dinners, event outings, Melbourne fun runs and everything else in between. She also helped the club fundraise a sizeable amount of funds through the purchases of Melbourne Entertainment Books and digital memberships. We hope that the new fundraiser will be able to live up to your legacy.

• Last by not least, Fung has been the Webmaster for the past two seasons. He has done a fantastic job in creating the current website that you are reading right now! You would be surprised by how fast Master Fung creates news posts for our team. One minute you are paddling in a race, the next you are reading about our race journey! A big credit and massive thank-you to Fung, who has spruced up our website and shared his knowledge with other Dragon Boat clubs. Keep the knowledge flowing Fung!

Committee for 2017/18 season

At the last committee meeting (2 August 2017), the following nominated members were elected into positions on the committee for season 2017/18:

• President - Claire Tan
• Secretary - Mandy Li
• Treasurer - Cindy Lu
• Members' Representative - Boyce Wong, Carol Lee
• Marketing and Recruitment Manager - Yuan Soon
• Social Events Manager - Young Tan
• Webmaster - Kai Lin
• Fundraising Manager - Meng Hou
• Coaching Coordinator - Siu Wong
• Regatta Manager - Eric Cham
• Inventory Manager - Alex Renteria
• Safety Officer - Catherine Besido
• Sweeps Coordinator - Carlos Diz

Out of the committee membership, the following also take up leadership responsibilities:

• Captains - Carlos Diz and Catherine Besido
• Vice-Captain - Eric Cham

The club committee members will serve all members of the club. Each committee member plays a unique role, and they will work together to grow the team, so that we can collectively achieve the goals and visions set out by the team for the new season.

We hope you can all join us in congratulating the above members, who are now a part of the Sea Dragon’s committee! This season will be another season for the history books.

GO SEA DRAGONS!