THE next generation of Dragonboat champions will be appearing at next weekend’s Bradford Dragonboat Festival thanks to the generosity of local businesses.
Great Britain’s Under 18s Dragonboat Team will be competing at the festival, held at Roberts Park in Saltaire.
They will be taking part in the Multi-charity Championship on the Sunday, and will also be on hand during the Lord Mayor’s Championship next Saturday to help out teams who might be a rower or two short.
The Under 18s are the reigning World Dragonboat Champions, so will be a valuable addition to any boat, and will also provide tough competition for other teams at the multi-charity day.
A number of Bradford businesses have banded together to support the Team GB teenagers to allow them to take part .
Bradford breadmaker Hovis and car manufacturing giant Mercedes-Benz have donated the boat which the team will be competing in, and Whitestone Solicitors has paid for the team of 24 teenagers and six adults to stay at the Mercure Bankfield Hotel in Bingley.
The team will be raising funds for cancer charity Macmillan when they take to the water.
Other well-oiled teams who will be bringing some serious paddle power at the city’s very own Dragonboat team, Bradford Barracudas, and Trentham Canoe Club, who are making the journey from Stoke-on-Trent to Saltaire.
Razwana Mahmood, part of the festival’s organising committee, said: “The fact that Team GB want to be part of our Festival is a massive coup.
“This team won a gold medal at last year’s World Championships so this could be inspirational to not only our youngsters from Bradford but the adults too who will have a challenge on their hands on the Sunday for the championship trophy.”
This year’s festival kicks off on Friday, June 22, with the Youth Championship, followed by the main event, the Lord Mayor’s Championship - in aid of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal - on Saturday 23, and the Multi-Charity Championship will again close the festival on Sunday 24.
There will also be live music and other attractions at the festival all weekend.
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