PADDLER 36
Words : Del Read , Chris Eastabrook & Dan Wilkinson Photos : As stated
PADDLER 36
Kid-friendly paddling : six expert tips for introducing
toCHILDREN PADDLING
Words : Del Read , Chris Eastabrook & Dan Wilkinson Photos : As stated
A year ago , I wrote an article sharing tips to support new paddlers and help them fall in love with white water kayaking . Following this article , several people asked if I had any specific tips for introducing children to kayaking . As I am not a parent , I reached out to the wonderful Chris Eastabrook and Dan Wilkinson , who kindly shared some of their expert tips with me . Both Chris and Dan are incredibly talented paddlers , coaches , and parents . This article will share their top tips for sharing the love of paddling with children . Enjoy !
CHRIS EASTABROOK
Dr Chris Eastabrook is an extremely talented paddler and highly respected coach . Chris ’ s desire to go beyond the technical skills of paddling when coaching led him to undertake a doctorate in coaching adventure sports with an emphasis on developing independent learners .
Chris is now the Head of Centre at Bryntysilio Adventure Education Centre , and so can help encourage hundreds of young people in adventure sports every year . The centre runs residentials for young people and health and wellbeing programmes for adults . They are a practice-based research group and are highly recommended !
Chris is also the father of seven-year-old Toby . As North Wales locals , Chris and Toby can often be found descending the mighty River Dee in their pirate canoe and engaging in other adventure sports , such as skiing .
DAN WILKINSON
Dan Wilkinson is another extremely respected adventure sports coach specialising in white water kayaking and winter mountaineering . He is also the author of Coaching Adventure Sports , which is one of my recommended reads if you are interested in coaching ! Over his career , Dan ’ s passion has led to him being involved in multiple campaigns for improving access to rivers and introducing countless people to paddling and coaching . Dan delivered my core coach training for kayaking last year !
Based in the Lake District , Dan has easy access to plenty of paddling locations to paddle with his children . Lake Windermere is their current favourite ! Dan and his wife Kate have two children : Robyn , who is four , and Harry , who is two . Robyn appeared in a Venture Canoe advert at the age of one , had her first kayak before she was two and had her third birthday party at the lake in canoes … so it is safe to say that Dan and Kate have done an excellent job at introducing her to paddling !