November is an exciting time for the paddling community, with the summer season and holiday period fast approaching. As the weather starts to warm up, it’s a good time to remind everyone of the importance of being safe in, on and around water.
With the holiday season also comes celebration, and a great opportunity to reminisce on the excitement that was the Paddle Australia Awards. Bringing the community together, to reflect on the year that was, was a great reminder of how much our paddling community has achieved in the last year.
This month, we were also excited to unveil our High Performance Strategic Plan. The new plan outlines horizons for implementation through to 2032, aligns key themes across global sporting system trends as well as the broader Australian HP2032+ Sport System Strategy currently in design.
Special mention must go to Kim Crane and her team for all their work on this project which provides our sport a long-term plan through to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with clear anchor points along the way to stop and review, as well as maintaining flexibility to pivot according to an ever changing landscape of global shifts, developing systems, technologies and innovations. (CLICK HERE for more information)
Unfortunately, I was unable to travel to Perth for the Shaw and Partners WA Race Week. It was, by all accounts, another enormous success, with great conditions providing close, competitive racing afloat, coupled with plenty of lively entertainment ashore. Our thanks as always to Shaw and Partners and the many other sponsors that do so much to support and promote paddling.
May I also take this opportunity to thank you for all your support over what has been a challenging but exciting 12 months. Whether spending time with family and friends or taking the opportunity to visit another part of our beautiful country, whatever you are doing over the December, Christmas and New Year period, take care and stay safe.
Yours in paddling,
Phil Jones
Paddle Australia CEO
