Blackwood said, “I feel like I’m the first grandchild of two great and
influential families -- and there are high expectations. We want to create
a fun and enjoyable path for anyone with an interest in paddling. Having
the recreational and elite competition disciplines under a single
leadership creates opportunities to build a pipeline of generations of
great paddlers.” Blackwood also mentioned, “Paddling is a healthy
outdoor activity and many of the great elite paddlers started by enjoying
a family canoe trip or having a great summer camp experience learning
to kayak.”
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is in the process of building a $42.5 million
whitewater paddling course and will host the 2016 Olympic Team Trials
for both slalom and sprint. Under this leadership model the future of
Olympic paddlesports looks bright. "Re-uniting the family of paddlers is
a good thing. It's about time!" said Frank Havens (age 90) 1952 Olympic
Gold Medalist.
Founded in 1880, The American Canoe Association (ACA) is a national
nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization serving the broader paddling public by
providing education related to all aspects of paddling; stewardship
support to help protect paddling environments; and sanctioning of
programs and events to promote paddlesport competition and
recreation. The ACA has over 30,000 members at both an individual
and organizational level and sponsors over 4,300 events each year,
including 200 races. The ACA education program has an annual
estimated outreach of 800,000 people. For more information, please
visitwww.americancanoe.org.
ACA Launches New Online Paddlesports
Career Center
The ACA Career Center will be expanding its services to create a onestop-shop for individuals searching for paddlesport related jobs. We
encourage all employers in the outdoor recreation and conservation
industries to upload job postings (full-time, part-time, seasonal,
internship, and volunteer) to the new ACA Career Center website. The
ACA will also promote Paddlesport Jobs through social media and our
monthly eNewsletter.
Please visit www.americancanoe.org/PaddlesportJobs for more details.
Job postings range from $10-$40, and all proceeds will support the ACA
Stewardship Department’s Stream to Sea Initiative.