History of the Club
Broken Paddle Canoe Club grew out of the desire of an enthusiastic group of people to paddle white-water. They were led by experienced paddlers Ken Lynch and Rob Wigginton and began paddling in the old 25m Boonah Pool in Elizabeth Tce in 2000. Boats were begged or borrowed and many here will remember the old ‘jelly beans’.
Players developed paddling and rolling skills and encouraged their families and their friends’ families to join them. Once paddlers were a bit more competent, off they went to Goolang Creek for Easter to paddle the white-water.
It all went from there.
The club was incorporated in 2002.
As the Club developed so did the need for equipment and Club infrastructure.
In the early days, many grant applications were knocked back, so fundraising was high on the agenda. 2 years in a row the Club did the Clean-up at Autofest, Kalbar. It was no mean feat! There were other clean-ups too, at the Boonah Rodeo and The Boonah Show. We developed quite a reputation.
However, as the Club became more organized, Grants were more available and the Club was successful in gaining significant funds from
the Gambling Community Benefit Fund to purchase first the plastic boats, and more recently the competitive Carbon-Kavlar boats.
Boonah/Scenic Rim Regional Council have supported the Club with grants to purchase safety equipment for children, and to build the Club kayak and equipment
Sport and Recreation Funding Programs have funded the development of the 5 year strategic plan, and various training programmes.
Commonwealth Gov Volunteer Programs have provided funds to purchase equipment to support our Volunteers such as computer, shades, tables, printers camera, BBQ
Hence, the Club has been able to develop a range of boats and accessories for various activities as well as equipment required for administration and governance.
As interest in Canoe Polo grew amongst the junior players, a team was entered in the Winter Series competition at Southbank in 2004. From that humble beginning, the team developed over the next 5 years to play in the National Competition 3 times and in Oceania twice. Shaun and Libby were selected to represent Australia in World Competitions overseas this year. Libby has also played in the World Championship in Canada in 2008 and the World Games in Taipei in 2009.
This all involved an enormous amount of travelling and sleeping on Scout Hall floors. However, it was all made possible by the dedication and support of Ken Lynch and Col Anderson, their Club and their close-knit rural community, who followed their progress through the local newspaper. Thanks Wendy!
Club members have also been able to participate in White-water kayaking, sea kayaking expeditions, flat-water recreational paddling, and surf kayaking.