For those who fly with paddles, how do you pack them, and do you check them or carry them on? I’m primarily curious about traveling with a single paddle, but I’d also love to hear how coaches manage carrying paddles for a whole team.

I am curious if others on here have had teammates become coaches. We have been an organized team since 2007. We have always had coaches who are not BCS team members. We have just begun to transition a teammate to become a coach in training. She’s doing a remarkable job! Great solid leader with clear and crisp commands. So my questions: 1) Does a coach have to steer or drum to coach or can you envision a world where a coach can be a paddler in the boat who coaches during rest periods as well as designs the workouts that the team will follow as called by the steerer or drummer? 2) If the only coaches on the team are teammates, can they still paddle competitively? If so, who decides if a coach qualifies to be on the most competitive boat rather than the second boat? *Thanks all! I am seriously considering becoming a coach, but I am SOOO competitive and I LOVE to paddle. I don’t mind steering some, but it isn’t my passion on the boat. I just don’t want to quit competing and I don’t want to give up paddling regularly (we practice 3 days a week).

Please help me congratulate @Christina Potter on her successful completion of the Level 2 Race Steering program. She sailed through the coursework, nailed her final exam, and completed her competency assessment. Congrats Christina!

One thing you may not realize about this community is that when you invite someone to join, and they buy one of our qualifying courses, you can earn a little commission. For every few folks that register for a course, that could cover the cost of a new paddle for you, maybe a hotel night at an away festival, or some DB swag! EVEN IF you never buy a course yourself. Why are we doing this? Because we want to build this into a real community hub for the sport. Unlike Facebook groups full of spam and nonsense, this is designed to be a space where folks can genuinely connect, share tips and insights, and grow in the sport—without judgment or drama. So how do you invite people and get credit for it? On desktop, go to the little button on the right that says "SETTINGS" - click on it and a window will pop up showing you your unique invitation link. Copy that link, then share it with your club, crew, friends, etc. On mobile, click the 3 dots in the top right of your screen, click on "Invite People" then copy the link there. You can also visit our Facebook Page and share any of the posts there, like this one about the upcoming Summit, to your timeline. I'd love to have 100 people at the Summit and 1000 people in here by the end of the summer. And i'd really appreciate your help getting the word out!!! Thank you in advance!!

A: Stand on one leg while brushing your teeth! (Bonus points if you brush with your non-dominant hand too!) What kind of lunacy is this? It's actually rooted in science. And it builds ankle strength, sharpens stabilization systems, plus (bonus!) it integrates core work into something you're already doing. (And you don't have to be a steer-in-training to reap the benefits of this either.) This is just one of the golden nuggets @Joann Fegley dropped on folks during the session titled "Steering: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You" Sunday's virtual summit. Replays are now up and accessible in the classroom! You gonna try it? Show us video of you giving it a go (it's harder than you think!)