Club Boaters

It's 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below in many parts of the country. Rivers are too frozen to flow in other parts, and only the hardiest (read: most desperate?) of paddlers are actually hitting the rivers.

Where does that leave the rest of us? In the pool.

It's warm in here! The Meyers Lake YMCA pool in Canton, Ohio, offers some rough, but fun, games of kayak soccer Sunday mornings during winter months.

Kayak and canoe clubs around the country are organizing winter pool sessions and kayak soccer games to keep us happy and in our boats when the river is a less appealing place to dip our paddles.

These clubs are also providing a great opportunity for newer paddlers to sharpen their skills, and pool sessions help introduce would-be paddlers to the sport by giving them a chance to test the waters of a whitewater boat instead of the beat up old rental rec boat from the local flat water livery.

Here in Northeast Ohio, the Keelhaulers Canoe Club organizes a plethora of pool sessions during winter months. Don't let the name fool you. The club's more active members are mostly kayakers. They also have an incredible variety of river trips scheduled year-round that offer a fun time for the most advanced paddlers to the most square of noobs.

Have you taken advantage of a pool session lately? If so, did you reward the club who arranged it by becoming a member and supporting their local paddlesports efforts?

If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Make some new friends, sharpen your skills and get in your boat in winter without getting a case of the nose icicles!