Kids are the future. They're our offspring. We would do anything
to protect them but also want them to be adventurous and find their own
way. Sioux Empire Paddlers understand these facts. This is why we make
our main focus on children. We want our youth to head outdoors and get
off electronics. We want them to explore new places and be adventurous.
WE also want to make sure they are safe about going on these adventures
even if they are tiny or huge adventures.
In 2015 a few members of
Sioux Empire Paddlers (then Sioux Falls Whitewater Park) noticed a lot
more youth getting into paddling. One huge concern was that they weren’t
wearing life jackets and they were in a large craft way too big for
them to manage. On top of that their skill level was below normal to
help them in dangerous situations. Now in South Dakota a youth 12 years
or younger must wear a life jacket but we weren’t seeing this enforced
by their current caregiver at the time. We were also seeing youth in
weather situations that if a split second accident did happen they would
have most likely drowned from cold shock or a bad case of hypothermia.
Sioux Empire Paddlers members wanted to do something about it. So in the
middle of 2015 they started coming up with a plan to get kids boats,
kids gear, and certified instructors to help teach about water safety
and paddling skills. By the end of 2015 the group raised enough funds to
get a fleet of kids boats, kids life jackets, kids paddles, trailer,
and safety gear. They were ready to start rounding up youth to start
spreading the word of paddling safety and teach very essential paddling
skills.
By the middle of 2016 the group accumulated 6 ACA Certified Instructors
in their group to help spread the knowledge of paddling and safety.
Classes for children also began around this time. Classes were held at
Lake Alvin, Garretson South Dakota and Classes through Sioux Falls
School District Community Education Program at Covell Lake. The classes
go over life jacket safety, weather, water temperature, rescues, edging,
strokes, draws, sweeps, and braces.
With our kids classes, having
narrow boats made for kids, they are able to manage the kayak better so
they are not trying to manage a big vessel they are actually learning
essential skills. Our paddles are also shorter than normal at 180cm with
a smaller shaft for easy grip. This helps children perform certain
strokes, draws, braces, and sweeps with more ease. Our life jackets come
in 5 different sizes so we can show a good fit life jacket. We wanted
to stay away from the universal jackets because a life jacket not
fitting well is like not wearing a life jacket at all.
Now looking
into our winter classes at the Sioux Falls Embe and 2017 class with the
Sioux Falls School district we are looking at adding five kids boats to
our fleet so we can host more classes and reach out to other entities.
Several entities like the Boys Scouts, Boys and Girls Club, and Girl
Scouts have reached out to us but they would like bigger classes than 5
students at a time to cover their large group of members.
We have enough life jackets and paddles so all we need is more boats to
spread our knowledge of skills and safety. Remember the children are
the future. If we don’t teach them safety now when will they learn about
it? Adventures are supposed to be fun not a tragedy. Please help us
spread the knowledge of safety to our youth.
To get five more boats we only need to raise $1,400.00 more. We have set up a
GoFundMe page
to raise those funds. It has been a slow start but we are gaining
momentum. Every dollar counts. We are even doing a few random giveaways
to help entice you if you donate $15.00 or more. Below are what we will
be giving away once we hit our $1,400.00 goal.
Once we hit our $1,400.00 goal we will do a random drawing for those
that donated $15.00 or more. Below are the items we will randomly draw
and winner gets to pick from whats available.
20 paddling class
certificates. These certificates can be given to anyone in the Sioux
Empire to get in a class from one of our instructors.
5 Sioux Empire
Paddlers Memberships. The winner can chose from an individual or family
1 year membership with Sioux Empire Paddlers.
1 Lifetime Sioux
Empire Paddlers Membership. This winner can chose from an individual or
family lifetime membership with Sioux Empire Paddlers.
Please help as much as you can. Every dollar counts to get us to our goal.
