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By Robert Balajadia
The men and women of the national dragon boat hopefuls have been hitting the waters of Matapang Beach in preparation for the 2013 VI East Asian Games that take place in Tianjin, China. Head coach Ron Ruiz has the team hitting the waters at least five times a week in preparations for October. The the team will be participating in two separate categories although they do practice together.
- China
- Chinese Taipei
- Guam
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- North Korea
- South Korea
- Macau
- Mongolia
“Most of these guys are transitioning from paddling to dragon boating. Some of the women have been paddling for two-and-a-half years already. Dragon boating is seasonal and the international races are done in summertime. This is still a fairly new sport. The only issue we have is with the tide, it dictates how we can practice.” stated Ruiz on the state of participation and level of competition.
With the sport being fairly new, fellow dragon boaters will look towards veterans like Deuce Romes, who is an experienced paddler in the sport having competed the previous International competitions.
“I’m just trying to get the attendance up and make sure everyones gets to practice at least two times a week. Guam always makes the championship and we win several medals in many events so, team Guam represents! We need to practice more just to get the timing down,” stated Romes.
Coach Ruiz walks across the shoreline while the dragon boaters do routine exercises, but Ruiz makes sure he still verbally pushes his team. Paddler Sabrina Rivo credits coach for pushing them as hard as he does, believing it will help them in the long run.
“I think we’re going to do really well out there because coach Ron really pushes us. Me and my mom [Sheila Compton-Rivo] have been on this team before for the longest time and we’ve never done these types of drills before,” stated Rivo.
The veterans of the boat are learning new things under coach Ruiz, who blends the same type of exercises normal paddlers do. The team has been successful in the previous games but know they are going to have to put in extra work in order to dethrone China, the champions.
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GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
11th
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
19th
SPRINT TRIATHLON, PACIFIC GAMES QUALIFIER
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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