Kristen Leigh Tull
“When I moved to the island, I heard about expats dragon boat racing. I love team sports and immersing myself in Japanese culture, so I knew I wanted to do it. However, my husband is an active duty Marine with a crazy schedule, and I had 3 children under the age of 5 at the time; I thought it would be impossible. More and more of my friends started joining teams, so I decided to figure out a way to just make it work. I hired babysitters, switched off with friends, whatever it took so I didn’t miss practice! I have a deep appreciation for the sport and the camaraderie it requires. Our dragon boat community is unique. There are several local Okinawan teams, which usually stay together for 10+ years, then there are primarily American teams; those are constantly changing. Their members usually stay for 3-4 years before they are moved off of Okinawa. Recruiting is fierce, and the competition is tough!
Today I paddle for me; it’s my time to focus on something that I love that doesn’t revolve around my children or my husband’s career. I now have 5 children and it’s important to me that they see dedication and hard work. I want them to witness the pay-off and see how rewarding that process is.
My favorite memory is winning the grandmother of all races here on Okinawa: Nago, racing with the Summer Dragons. The race is 60 years old and until this year, no American team had ever won. We worked our butts off, and changed that this year. We did 8 turn races in preparation, dropped buckets, balanced our boat perfectly, and stacked with our best paddlers. We were lucky enough to recruit a beefcake kajatori (sweep) who practiced with us to simulate the race exactly. Our coach really pushed us, and not only did we win, we beat the record by 10 seconds! It was an amazing feeling when we heard our name announced as the winner. In Okinawa, if you win a race, you take a loop around the crowd in your boat and they shower you with beer; then, of course, the afterparty!”
[Kristen Leigh Tull (Okinawa, Japan & USA), coach on Yasha Dragons.]
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