The Chinese Youth League (CYL) of Australia Inc is a non-profit community organisation based in Sydney, Australia. One of its aims is to bring Chinese Culture to the wider Australian Community, and Dragon Boating is one activity which it organises to do this. Dragon Boating provides a unique sporting experience which has a cultural history going back 2000 years. It is a team sport that both men and women can participate in and compete literally side by side.

CYL is a dragon boat team dedicated to enriching the lives of our members and the development of the sport of dragon boating.

The CYL Dragon Boat team has been competing since the first dragon boat races in Sydney back in 1984. During this time, the crews have developed, grown, chopped, changed and morphed into many different forms. We currently have a fantastic bunch of paddlers who like to be competitive, but party pretty hard when we’re not on the water!

So if you’re thinking about giving dragon boating a try, then just take the plunge and contact us! It’s a great way to get fit and make new friends. Many of our paddlers help out with the other community activities run by CYL, so c’mon out and try out dragonboat!

Water training is held in Blackwattle Bay, Glebe. The boats launch from under the Anzac Bridge pylon at 1 Bank Street, Pyrmont. Follow the signs to the Fish Markets, but instead of turning into the Fish Markets car park, keep driving straight and you’ll see some dragon boats on your left (if you’re heading west).

What to bring:

• T-shirt & shorts (rashies/thermals if you have them)
• Water sport shoes/old shoes (they will get wet!) Please wear enclosed footwear. Sandals/thongs are NOT allowed.
• Bottle of water (you will get thirsty)
• A change of clothes (your paddling clothes will get wet!)
• Plastic bag (to put your wet clothes in)
• Towel
• Sun block
• Hat

Land training is held at the CYL clubhouse, 10 Dixon Street, Haymarket (Enter via fire stairs directly under the big yellow CYL sign) . Various cardiovascular and weight lifting regimes will be conducted for this session, which varies week to week. Please keep a look out for emails from our trainers (Johnny).

What to bring:

• T-shirt & shorts or tracksuit
• Comfortable training/running shoes
• Bottle of Water
• Towel