PADDLEABLE SUPPORTING POSITIVE PADDLING EXPERIENCE
FOR MORE KIWIS

 

NORTH SHORE CANOE CLUB PADDLEABLE COMMITMENT

The North Shore Canoe Club is committed to providing fun, safe, and inclusive paddling participation programs.  We have coaches and volunteers who have completed “Paddle Able Disability Education” training, and we have some equipment that can be modified to allow a range of disabled participants to paddle. 

The club has made the PaddleAble commitment from Canoe Racing New Zealand. 

This commitment was developed in partnership with The Halberg Foundation,
Blind Sport New Zealand, Parafed, and Aktive.

  

Due to the nature of our sport and to ensure the safety of participants, we do have some basic prerequisites.  Please see the below FAQ under for further information about these requirements.

 

We are a disability inclusive club and are committed to providing fun, safe and inclusive paddling.  We look forward to welcoming and supporting new members with disabilities.

Please see some helpful FAQ’s below:

FAQ’S

• Where is the club? North Shore Canoe Club, 1a Northcote Road, Lake Pupuke, Auckland
  The club is at the end of Northcote road in front of the lake, it is a large shared building and our club is to the left facing the Lake. When you arrive please walk to the front of the club as this is where the boats are stored and our group meeting point.
  
  
• What equipment does the club provide?  Boats, paddles and personal flotation devices (PFDs) are provided.
  
  
• Can I participate?  Our club Try Learn Explore courses and training squads are suitable for anyone above 10 years of age. No previous paddling experience required. While we aim to cater for all disabilities, during our programmes we may not be able to cater for everyone due to our ability to have suitable equipment and to ensure participants are safe on the water. Therefore, for the purpose of this programme we ask that all participants must be able to swim 200m with a personal floatation device, have a moderate to high level of water confidence, be able to self transfer, seal airways and be able to understand and follow instructions of the coaches. We are committed to ensuring our coaches consider the individual needs of participants and the activities are appropriate to their skill and development level. Where necessary we will make modifications to cater for individual needs. Our coaches have completed CRNZ PaddleAble inclusion education with Halberg Foundation and are dedicated to making the experience the best it can be. If you or the participant you are registering has a disability or health condition, please let us know in the consent form or please contact us with any further information that will assist with our planning.

• Will I get wet? Yes you will get wet, paddling is a water sport. This ranges from splashes to swimming/ floating depending on your water confidence and ability. Will I fall out? While the kayaks are tippy, depending  on your ability and confidence we can adapt the equipment to have a much more stable kayak, reducing the likelihood of falling out. However, it is possible you will fall and we encourage this as this is part of the learn program. We encourage participants to talk to their coach about their water confidence level prior to the paddling session.  

• Are there bathrooms? Yes, we have two bathrooms on the top floor of the club and two bathrooms downstairs.  The downstairs bathrooms are up a flight of 3 stairs.  We are renovating the club and will soon have accessible bathrooms.

• Is there accessible parking? Yes, we have 1 accessible park to the left side of the club facing out towards the lake, this is clearly marked. Please contact us if you require any assistance.

• Nervous or have any further questions? Please contact Erina Emery, North Shore Canoe Club Disability Inclusion Committee Member. We are more than happy to talk you through anything that might be worrying you. info@northshorecanoeclub.org.nz