March 23rd - Paddler Party

WHAT: A party! We'll be hanging out, watching paddle videos, eating pizza, and drinking drinks. Standard party fare. Make sure to bring some money so you can chip in! Oh, and make sure to bring money so you can put in your order for club shirts and hoodies.

WHERE: Somewhere off campus. We'll send directions to those who are going (and when we decide where we're having it, haha).

WHO: UConn Kayaking Club members past or present. So long as you've been to a roll clinic or out on a trip you're invited. Just shoot us an email and tell us you're coming and we'll send you directions.

April 3rd - WWP Presentation

WHAT: Dan Mullins, the President of the Willimantic Whitewater Partnership, will be coming to speak about the WWP's work of putting a whitewater kayaking park right in downtown Willimantic. The partnership has already attracted a lot of attention and government funding and progress is being made everyday. Pretty soon there's going to be one of the few whitewater parks in the nation not 15 minutes from UConn!

WHO: Everyone! Really. It's free too. Tell all your friends and don't miss out!

WHERE: UConn Student Union - Room 304-B.

WHEN: April 3rd - 6:00-7:00PM

April 7th - Fife Brook, MA

WHAT: It's our first trip of the year! We're going to be paddling the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield River.

WHO: Beginner paddlers who have been to at least one roll clinic.

HOW: Signups for this trip will be accepted by email starting Wednesday April 4th at 6PM. First ones in win.

April 14th - Fife Brook, MA

WHAT: It's our second trip of the year! We're going to be paddling the Fife Brook section of the Deerfield River (again).

WHO: Beginner paddlers who have been to at least one roll clinic.

HOW: Signups for this trip will be accepted by email starting Wednesday April 11th at 6PM. First ones in win.

April 22nd - Westfield River, MA

WHAT: A sweetness trip on the Westfield River in Mass.

WHO: Beginner paddlers who have been to at least one roll clinic.

HOW: Signups for this trip will be accepted by email starting Wednesday April 18th at 6PM. First ones in win.

April 28th-29th - West River, VT

WHAT: The best trip of the season! We'll be paddling the upper and lower west river. We're headed up Friday night paddling Saturday and Sunday and heading home Sunday night. Both nights we'll be staying at Zach's place. I'm not gonna lie, it's going to be more fun than I can describe on the internet.

WHO: Paddlers who have been to at least one roll clinic and on at least one other river trip.

HOW: Signups for this trip will be accepted by email starting Wednesday April 25th at 6PM. First ones in win.

Roll Clinics

WHEN: Every Thursday night: 8:00-10:00PM. Starting February 8th.

WHERE: Wolff-Zackin Natatorium Pool. Search the UConn map for 'WZN'. To get to the pool you will have to first go into a large wide hallway. This hallway runs from the Student Union/Business School side of the building (says "Ticket Office" above the doors) all the way out to the back parking lot. The entrance to the pool is located in this hallway, it's a door on the Gampel side that says 'Men's and Women's locker rooms', go through it and you can go into the locker rooms to get changed or head straight down the hallway and out to the pool.

WHO: Any UConn student, faculty, or UConn community member is welcome to attend (experienced paddlers see below). Space, however, is limited - in order to assure your spot you'll have to email the club beforehand and request to attend (see below for specifics). People who don't email first can just show up and check it out but should assume we won't be able to get them in a boat. Whether you've never even seen a Kayak or you've been to every one of our roll clinics we encourage you to attend. These clinics are the best way for those new to kayaking to get a feel for being in a boat before heading out on moving water. Even if you want to just stop in and check it out, go for it, just ask for a club officer if you have any questions.

HOW: People looking to attend a roll clinic in order to learn, as opposed to teach, will have to sign up first. Sign-ups are done by email and start after 6PM on the Wednesday before the Thursday roll clinic. The first 10 people to email in win.

WHAT TO BRING: Something to wear in the pool and a towel, that's it. We bring all the boats, gear, and equipment. You're welcome to wear a bathing suit if you've got one, but plenty of people go with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and do just fine.

EXPERIENCED PADDLERS: We would be extremely happy to have experienced members of the paddling community come to our roll clinics (email us first) to share the sport they love. However, the overwhelming goal of our roll clinics is teaching those without kayaking experience. In that vein we must politely insist that any experienced paddlers that do plan on attending do so with the intention of teaching or assisting those with less experience. That doesn't mean we can't all have a good time, or never get in a boat ourselves, but chances are your bomber off-side roll doesn't need any flatwater training anyhow, right ;)

PARKING: (For those coming from off-campus) Parking right behind Gampel Pavilion is the most convenient. However, it's often the most packed. The south garage is right next door if you don't mind the few dollar charge or any parking lot after 5PM is generally fair game.

Meetings

Currently there are no dates or times for regular club meetings. For the most part our weekly roll clinics act as our unofficial meetings. Any questions you might have about the club are more than welcome there. As cool as sitting around in a room is and talking, we think it's much more fun to meet people around the pool sessions or out on a river trip.

River Trips

WHEN: Each year we plan a number of trips on rivers all over new england - it just so happens that we don't have any planned out just yet. Expect there to be a trip every weekend during the month of April, and maybe one or two in March and May.

WHO: Only people who have to attended and participated in at least one roll clinic will be allowed to go on a river trip. This is so we can be sure that all trip attendees can safely paddle on a river and perform basic whitewater maneuvers such as wet exits. Exceptions will only be made for those who have prior demonstrated whitewater kayaking experience.

Got a trip/meeting suggestion or request? Email us at kayaking@uconn.edu and hassle us until we do it.