Chota’s Winter Roll Session Roll-Up

Goodbye, dry suits, poggies, base layers, wool socks, thick boots and skull caps!!! The water temps are up, the gear-up time is down … and the upside-down fun is here! If you’re tracking so far…then…well, you must be a whitewater kayaker! As we paddle into the glorious season of “Hey, y’all, try this…,” it has us reflecting about the work we did this winter to be ready to maximize our summer fun.

Thanks to our good friends at the Pilot Family YMCA and some fantastic Chota volunteers, we took our training inside from Dec through April. 18 roll practice sessions were planned - even if we did lose a couple along the way for a snow-apocalypse and a mandatory lifeguard training session conflict. Because of your participation and some great volunteer effort, we were even able to kick it up a notch. This year we added the ability to schedule you for individualized roll instruction and provided group skills development sessions like T-rescues, skulling, bracing, combat roll games, and hand rolling. With the help of our friends at River Sports, we were able to try out a LOT of new plastic – Jackson, Dagger, Pyrana, Wave Sport, Liquid Logic – we tried them all and had a blast doing it. For the real troopers among you, we took our new roll skills outside for a Polar Bear Plunge in the middle of February – complete with cold weather paddling instruction, on-water fun and games, and a nice warm tent with hot chocolate when we got too cold. If you missed that one, you’ll want to check it out next year - it was a blast. Although our Spring Fling play day with the Jacksons was the casualty of some temporary water issues, we were still able to cap the season off with a Combat Roll Session on the Hiwassee the last weekend of May to see if all that work had paid off. We’re happy to report a huge success – most of us are combat-ready now, so go grab your half-slices and playboats and let’s get this summer started! The playgrounds await!

Those of you who know Frankie well, know that she’s strategic. She wants to ensure our club is doing everything we can to help maximize our paddle sports fun and safety. With that in mind, and with the 2024 Paddle School(s) on our immediate horizon line, she asked me to share some observations about how far we’ve come and our hopes for the upcoming year. Here goes!

Those of you who attended roll practice regularly – congratulations! I’ve seen most of you doing combat rolls too! Ding…bonus points…river level unlocked!

First-year paddlers sometimes eddy out over the first winter and don’t always find their way back into the boat for subsequent years. I haven’t really seen that this year. LOTS of you stuck it out, found enough gear to paddle through, worked your rolls in the pool, and leveraged your new friendships to keep paddling outdoors through the winter. ‘Seasoned’ paddlers – you made this happen. Thank you for including them all winter long!

Last summer, some of our paddlers found themselves looking for a little shallower progression curve on the paddling schedule. Chota listened! We jumped in and provided extra trips that ramped up in difficulty a little slower. As a result, there’s a whole group of you that realized significant progression. In the last month, we’ve seen multiple PFDs on the Upper Pigeon, Ocoee, Lily to Nemo – and I mean PFDs done well! Congrats! Because of you, we really thought even harder about our paddling schedule this year, and I think our 2024 paddlers will really benefit without sacrificing opportunities for our more advanced paddlers.

Because the skill sessions that we did in conjunction with roll practice seemed helpful, we’re working on ways to keep that going in conjunction with our summer paddling schedule. Keep an ear out as we scout out the best way to do that. Expect to see some instructors tag along to spend a few minutes doing intentional skill development work on scheduled trips.

Speaking of instructors, this year Chota sponsored ($$$) several members for ACA Instructor Certification. Not only did this provide them with significant growth opportunities, it raised the water level for our entire club as they paid it forward by helping out with paddle schools, social trips, and educational vignettes.

Long-time Chota paddlers: you are the life of the club… it is what you make it. Without your continued volunteerism and participation, our new paddlers would be on their own. I owe about everything I know about paddling to you and I’m truly thankful for it. But check this out: 46 students in Whitewater Paddle School. 46! Guess how many instructors/support boaters we have? 24! That’s roughly 1 instructor/support boater for every 2 students! That’s a phenomenal turnout to encourage our club’s progression. Great job!

Safety. This is an area we need to work on. Our club is very safety-focused – I’ve seen that on every paddle I’ve participated in. But we need ACA L3 (River Safety & Rescue) and ACA L4 (Swiftwater Rescue) Instructors so we can provide intentional in-club training events. If you enjoy teaching and you’re interested in helping that way, please let a board member know. Until we can self-sustain here, we will continue to partner with other clubs to make sure we’re taking care of each other on the water like we should. The club needs you.

One final thought, and it’s for our new paddlers. If you discovered at paddle school that you love kayaking, canoeing, touring, SUPing … you are in the right place, and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. I’ve had some amazing experiences in just 4 years! I’ve paddled on nice sunny days, in driving rain, in the snow, in isolated gorges, on road-side rivers, on narrow rivers with 10-foot waves, on wide rivers with holes the size of a house, in foreign countries, under waterfalls, watching eagles, in rock gardens, in the fog, on three-day camping trips, and the list goes on. Most importantly, I’ve done it all with fantastic friends. Our club works very hard to provide you the opportunity to gain experience and grow your skillset. Take advantage of those opportunities. Make some really cool new friends. Paddle often. Time in the boat matters. We’re here to help you. Get on Chota's FaceBook. Get on MeetUp. Come join us on paddle trips and NEVER leave a takeout without another paddler’s phone number or contact. You’re one of us now, not an add-on, and we want to paddle with you.

PS. …and don’t eddy out this winter. Plan now! You’re gonna want some cold weather gear, but the best paddling of the year will start in the middle of winter…right about the time you’ve got your fancy new rolls mastered in the pool…I promise!