The Busting With Life Dragon Boat Team is pleased to have received a grant from the NZCT of $1,582 towards replacing their old training paddles, which will help them to remain competitive at the National Championships at Lake Hood, Ashburton, in March.
Treasurer Fiona Collins commented, “Busting with Life is an Auckland dragon boat team with a very strict entry criterion. All paddlers must be breast cancer survivors. We are a team of 25 women all of different ages, shapes, and sporting backgrounds. We are all together because of one common diagnosis and compete in a very competitive division with five other breast cancer survivor teams nationally. We feel it is very important for our team to have a high profile so people can see that there is life after a cancer diagnosis.
“The grant from New Zealand Community Trust towards our new paddles is greatly appreciated as it allows us to finally update our very old training paddles. This is very important if we are to remain competitive and will be a huge benefit to all the team and any future team members. Any of our old paddles that still have a little life left in them will be gifted to the Auckland Dragon Boat Association to be used for schools’ dragon boat training.”
The Busting With Life Dragon Boat team was established in 1998 to provide hope and inspiration to those with breast cancer, and to make a difference through heightening awareness of breast cancer, and through encouraging active living following a diagnosis and treatment of the disease. That goal remains today, 23 years after it all began.