Community Highlights: Meet Kari Rydalch of SLAP Dragons KC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Rydalch.

Hi Kari, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
SLAP Dragons KC is the only Co-Ed Dragon Boat Team in all of Kansas and Missouri. Let’s start with our name: SLAP stands for “Sounds Like a Plan!” As Co-founders and friends, Denett Costin, Betty Welch and I used this phrase often when deciding on new adventures, so it seemed appropriate for a team name.

How did we decide to start a dragon boat team? All 3 of us are also members of the very first dragon boat team in the area, the KC Pink Warriors. To be a KC Pink Warrior you must be female, and a cancer survivor. We all fell in love with the sport and it really became a passion. Betty and Denett arranged to borrow a dragon boat from Iowa to compile a team to enter the Missouri American Water MR340. In the meantime, we found interested friends who also wanted to try out the sport. While preparing for that race, we hatched a plan to buy that boat, and spent a lot of time and energy refurbishing it. We completed the MR340 in 2022 and started a Co-Ed team in 2023. Let’s stop here and clarify something. Normally, dragon boats don’t do the long distant races like the MR340. That was a novelty. Dragon Boat Racing as a sport that usually consists of 250, 500, 1000, or 2000 meter sprint races, with 500 meters being the most common.

We had a successful 1st season racing here at the International Dragon Boat Festival at Brush Creek sponsored by the Society for Friendship with China, and at the Badger Lake Dragon Boat Bash in Fort Dodge, IA, taking home silver medals from both locations

In 2024 we recruited a board of directors, applied for 501(c)(3) status as an amateur sports team, and were granted charity status in April of 2024. In 2024, we also grew our team and competed in 4 festivals, bringing home Gold Medals from Brush Creek and Badger Lake. We also brought home a Gold Medal from the LA County Dragon Boat Festival in California, and came away with a Silver medal from the first annual Kansas City Dragon boat festival held at Shawnee Mission Lake and co-hosted by the KC Pink Warriors and Great White North.

This year one of our team members, Lynn Clause, who owns some Culver’s in the KC market (Overland Park, Liberty, KC MO State Line and Mission, KS) and who loves the sport, invested in the future of our team by sponsoring the cost of a new boat. This will be an amazing addition that can help us continue to grow our team, and should arrive sometime this Spring.

We currently have 31 people on our team roster, with more interested people in our prospective paddlers group who are giving it a try. So, the addition of a 2nd boat will be a blessing.

Our mission is to be a family of Co-ed athletes who work to promote and grow the sport of dragon boating locally, nationally and internationally through education, cooperation, and competition. SLAP Dragons KC fosters an environment of fun, fitness, teamwork, and camaraderie.

We practice twice a week at Wyandotte County Lake and are actively recruiting members. If you are a water person, or not, we’d love to introduce you to this sport and think you’ll love it as much as we do.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would not say that it has been smooth; however with the help of our amazing friends and family we have felt supported through this journey.

Our 1st obstacle was refurbishing the boat. Bill Welch, Betty’s husband, and Ryan Rydalch, Kari’s husband, were instrumental in acquiring, refurbishing, maintaining, pulling, and storing the boat. First off, it’s 41 feet long!! A few friends along the way have offered their barns to be able to work on the boat. Lots and lots of sanding, stripping, repainting the outside, and refinishing the benches and the gunwale (twice) would not have been possible without their help.

Our biggest obstacle has been and remains today a place to keep the boat. Ideally, it would be best if we could rent one of the unused dock ends at Wyandotte County Lake. Although the boat is 41’ long, it is only 4 feet wide and fits nicely at the end of docks where pontoons can’t be stored. So far, we have not been granted permission to rent one of these unused dock ends. So for now, we continue to have to store the boat, and trailer it to the lake and pull it out again for every practice. Huge thanks to our equipment manager and Executive VP, Bill Welch, and our assistant equipment managers, Gary Linhart and Kyle Davis, who is also our VP of Public Relations for taking the time and effort to get the boat in and out of the water for practices.

Money is also a struggle. Although it is a sport for everyone and for all ages, it can be an expensive sport to manage because of the cost of the boats, equipment to pull and maintain the boats, paddles, and other team management tools. Although we are getting a beautiful new boat, we can not yet afford a new trailer for it, or the head and tail to go with it. We are actively trying to fund raise.

One other challenge we are finding running a Co-Ed team is that men are a little more reluctant to reach out and try it. The men we have on our roster, once they race, become really passionate about the sport like we are, but it takes a little more convincing to get the men to come out and give it a try. That being said, we are still recruiting men and women.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about SLAP Dragons KC?
SLAP stands for Sounds Like A Plan!
Our motto is FUN, FRIENDS, FAMILY, FIERCE!

We are the only CoEd dragon boat team in all of Kansas and Missouri. We firmly believe that dragon boating is a sport for all ages. It is the ultimate team sport!

What is a dragon boat? A 40’ long canoe with 20 paddlers, 1 steersperson and 1 drummer

Dragon Boating originated in China over 2,000 years ago and is the world’s fastest growing water sport. Teams of 20 paddlers move in unison, combining strength and teamwork in a dragon boat. This ecologically friendly activity will awaken your senses as you glide though the water. This activity can help in creating a team spirit unlike any other, The sport of Dragon Boating promotes health and wellness while teaching its participants the importance of working together as a team –One Boat One Beat.

We practice twice a week at Wyandotte County Lake. We train for races all around the nation. Typically races are 500 meter sprints. This is mostly an anaerobic sport. We are currently recruiting men and women and are providing opportunities for 3 free practices before committing to being a team member. Membership dues are $150 annually. Race registration fees and travel costs are extra.

Our primary objectives:
a) To provide opportunities for people of all ages to learn and become competitive in and enjoy the organized sport of Dragon Boating.
b) To provide individual and team coaching and instruction in the Sport of Dragon Boating
c) To provide the development of competitive dragon boat teams with access to practices, practice boats and equipment
d) To provide opportunities, register and otherwise make arrangements for athletes to participate in amateur competitions, festivals, and races on a local, national, and international level.

We are also providing Corporate Team Building Experiences for any group that would like to practice working together in a unique way.

The benefits of Dragon Boating include:
Improved communication among group members
Morale boosting
Encourages members to get to know each other
Teaches problem solving techniques
Stimulates the nervous system, causing individuals to think more clearly
Strengthens muscles and improves coordination and range of motion.

What matters most to you?
What matters most to me as the President and Coach of the SLAP Dragons KC dragon boat team is that everyone who comes onto our boat not only feels welcome, supported, and enabled to succeed in this sport, but that they have FUN!!!
As our mission states, our entire board of directors and coaching team is committed to fostering an environment of fun, fitness, teamwork, and camaraderie.

Pricing:

• $150 annual membership dues to join the team
• 3 free practices to give it a try before joining
• Corporate Team Building Experiences $250-$450

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.slapdragonskc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slapdragonskc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560671867286
• Twitter: Email: [email protected]