Bunbury's Forza Dragon Boat Club celebrates thirty year anniversary

Formed in 1991 as Forza Italia Dragon Boat Club, Forza was the vision of foundation President and Coach, Grant Barbera, who at the time paddled with the Spirit of Bunbury Dragon Boat Club.

Mr Barbera said it was winning the Mixed Division title at a Dragon Boat racing competition in Penang, Malaysia, that sparked the interest in starting another club in Bunbury.

"When we returned to Bunbury, the win had inspired a lot of enthusiasm and support amongst the community and because we gained a lot of interest in the sport, we expanded with another team," Mr Barbera said.

Dragon boating originated over 2000 years ago in China and is one of the fastest growing water sports in Australia.

The boats sit 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steerer and are usually made of fiber glass or wood with a dragon head and tail on opposite ends of the boat.

When formed, the new Bunbury dragon boat club was named Forza Italia, meaning force, strength and power in Italian.

An 'instant hit', Mr Barbera said 90 per cent of Forza Italia were Italian who were all related to each other.

"There were sister-in-laws, wives, husbands. I coached the team right from the start and we started to win everything we could possibly win in the novice division. The following year we went into open class racing. Forza Italia were a very successful team."

In 1994, Mr Barbera joined the Bunbury-based Indian Ocean Outriggers and began focusing on outrigger canoe racing in the ocean.

After Mr Barbera's departure and more paddlers of non-Italian heritage joined the team, the word 'Italia' was dropped and the name was changed to Forza Dragon Boat Club to make it more inclusive of all nationalities and heritages.

30 years later, Forza Dragon Boat Club has gone from being on the brink of folding in 2001, to achieving a number of wins and accolades that has managed the Club to keep 'strong memberships and steady success'.

Forza Dragon Boat Club Coach Paul Harrison has been a part of the Club for the entire 30 years, having joined at 11-years-old as a drummer.

He said it was amazing that the Club was still going after 30 years.

"I started just sitting around and banging that drum but it's always been something fun. Dragon boating is considered a minor sport so for us to be able to keep it going is really good. It is a really exciting sport and actually a lot tougher than a lot of people realise. There's a lot of challenge to it," Mr Harrison said.

Forza Dragon Boat Club Chairman John Campbell said despite being a small club by dragon boating standards, Forza continues to punch well above their weight.

"We won three gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the 2021 State Championships at Champion Lakes," Mr Campbell said.

"Our ongoing success is directly attributed to our foundation members who had a vision, dedication and hard work that established a strong club culture that is still present today".

In addition to the 30 year celebrations, Forza Dragon Boat Club will begin a social paddling day every Wednesday from 8.30am to 9.30am, starting on September 1.

Mr Campbell said the idea behind the social paddling sessions was to encourage new paddlers who are looking for a social sport to enjoy some low intensity paddling.

"Dragon boating is a very social sport that covers all age groups and genders. The social paddling is for people who don't want to paddle competitively but who want the exercise. It's a way of meeting new people and also the comradery of doing some gentle work outs and then having a cup of tea afterwards."

Mr Barbera said it was pleasing for him that the Forza team had survived all this time and was still going strong today.

"Being part of Forza honestly feels like yesterday, all the talk of the 30 year celebrations brings back a lot of good memories for me. I've been away from Bunbury for almost 20 years but come back often as my children and grandchildren live there," Mr Barbera said.

For more information on the social paddling sessions, visit Forza Dragon Boat Club's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/forzadbcby.

Tickets for Forza Dragon Boat Club's 30th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, September 4 are $35 and can be purchased via Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/forza-dragon-boat-club-30th-anniversary-celebration-tickets-162018488661.

The reunion night will feature music by Bunbury duo Guy and a Girl, as well as food and drinks.