Commitment to the Community Seen in Teen Paddling Skills and Smiles.
Affordable paddling classes for local teens meets needs during summer of social distance.
(August 16, 2020) Twelve-year-old Serena Wachsman was all smiles as she swam out from under her capsized kayak. It wasn’t just that the water felt great—she had executed a “wet exit,” one of the most important safety skills in kayaking. Next up, the heel hook reentry. She floated with her boat in the Hudson River just north of the Yonkers Paddling & Rowing Club (YPRC).
“Great job,” Phil Giller, the kayaking instructor and Vice Commodore of YPRC, called from his boat. “Get ready, Oisin, you’re next.”
Serena and Oisin McCann, another thirteen-year-old, are two of approximately eighteen new junior members of YPRC—a growing group of teenagers mostly from Yonkers who are participating in historic paddle club’s programs. Teens from Yonkers can become junior members for $30 a season. Other teens can participate through family memberships. Many junior members including Kristina, Zoe and Saredys Marte, siblings ages 14 – 18, live close enough to attend multiple paddles each week.
In the club’s former incarnation, the Yonkers Canoe Club, teens joined to race. Over the years, regional racing dwindled and the membership aged. YPRC is working hard to change that.
The club’s commitment to diversity and outreach to young people in the community is purposeful and targeted through Hudson River Riders, YPRC’s free public paddling program. The club added skills classes for teens this summer. Skilled members volunteer to teach the young paddlers. That day, Frankie Pasquariello, an eighteen-year-old from Yonkers, helped Giller lead the class.
One of the new junior members, Riley Wordsman, a 12-year-old from Yonkers, is the daughter of Lee Wordsman, who raced with Yonkers Canoe Club in the 1970s.
“We continue to work towards a membership that reflects the community we live in,” said Kevin Horbatiuk, Commodore of YPRC. “We are working to ensure that YPRC, our boathouse and our events are a safe and welcoming space for all people.”
The closing of many pools and parks this summer has brought more people to YPRC—including teens. The club was able to pivot in response to COVID-19 by offering eight to ten volunteer-led small group paddles a week that allow for social distance and sanitization protocols.
“Last year, we put 170 people on the river,” said YPRC House Captain Jack Gilman. “So far this summer, 450 have participated in paddles.” That number is a total and reflects that people attend more than one paddle.
Even so, the new teen members are a happy surprise. The club purchased new spray skirts, size small, to keep up with the demand.
While registration for new junior members has closed for the season, non-members ages 13+ can paddle with Hudson River Riders, YPRC’s free public paddling program. It offers excursions on Thursdays and Fridays at 5:30 pm by registration only: hudsonriverriders.org
YONKERS PADDLING & ROWING CLUB (YPRC)
Yonkers Paddling & Rowing Club serves as an anchor institution along the Yonkers riverfront nurturing paddling and environmental awareness. It is host of the annual Gerry Blackstone Manhattan Kayak Circumnavigation, honored by the American Canoe Association in 2018. Member programs include weekly paddles, rescue and paddling skills clinics, and a winter boat-building workshop.
Hudson River Riders, YPRC’s free public paddling program, provides recreational access to and environmental awareness of the Hudson River through kayaking tours and instruction.
YPRC’s historic boathouse, just north of the Yonkers Pier, was built in 1938. It was home to Yonkers Canoe Club which is remembered for the two Olympic Gold medals it brought home in 1948. Although the boathouse was submerged in four feet of water during Superstorm Sandy, the members rebuilt it and continue the club’s long legacy of community involvement.
YPRC has been recognized through the receipt of grant support from the City of Yonkers, the State of New York, Westchester Community Foundation, Hudson River Estuary program, Hudson River Improvement Fund, Hudson River Foundation for Science and Environmental Research, Inc., Toyota, and Public Lands Every Day, a National Environmental Education Foundation Program.
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