Pursue the most effective education and practical technique in paddle sports. Be and create life-long stewards of our natural playgrounds. Empower leadership to help cultivate existing and new communities that rally around education and environment.
Lifestyle is a huge guiding force in our day to day direction of H2o Dreams. When Lydia and I formed H2o Dreams in 2012, our first goal was to improve the quality of our life. We sought out more time and independence for ourselves to enable us to pursue that which we are most passionate. Little did we know that it would become our life’s work.
Paddle sports, fitness, and personal ethos are the biggest components to making that quality life a reality for us, and we spend every waking moment of each day trying to maximize our output through those mediums. Through our experience, we have developed a strong program that works not only for us, but for hundreds to thousands of paddlers we have worked with over the past decade.
Our Core Values: Creative – Passionate – Driven
Creativity not only stems from creating something new, but also from seeking new pathways or ways we view and think about our world. Our medium is language and how we make our topics relatable to you. In order to be creative, we must first master the basics, and in this case, our mastery is in communicating effectively to every individual.
No half-assing here: you’re either all in or you’re not in at all. The best advice we ever received about involving people with our work was never involve someone that doesn’t bring the same level of passion to the table as you do. You will never meet a more passionate group about education and stewardship. We truly believe that our chosen crafts are vehicles for change in our life.
When you are unrelenting in your pursuit, how do you know you have reached your goal? We cannot honestly answer that question for now as we continue to drive forward with our organization’s mission. But we will let you know when we get there.
At H2o Dreams, we are committed to sharing all we have learned and love about a quality life through paddle sports and fitness in hopes of inspiring you so that you can help transform your life and the lives of your friends and family. The workouts, guidance, and support we provide will always reflect what we truly believe based on what we have found works for us. We are committed to sharing every available resource we have in order to provide you the most effective tools, information, instruction, and support that you need to achieve the goals you envision for yourself and your entire family.
We have come to understand that through a constant emphasis on comfort and orientation, long-term learning and development of positive motor patterns can be achieved. Comfort and orientation are qualities to every skill and therefore a great indication of what the success of those skills will be.
The tone of these qualities are set in a variety of ways, and for that reason we prepare you in advance for your learning experience by putting you at ease with the information that you need and excluding the unnecessary distractions. During teaching time, the focus is to equip you with an appropriate understanding of kinematics and physics that are ideal for you personally. By the end of any of our clinics, you will have a firm understanding, a list of exercises or “homework,” and the ability to diagnose any future problems that may arise.
Simply put, we desire to put you in the cockpit and empower you to become the best, self-sufficient paddler you desire to be in a safe and effective way.
However, in order for our program to work, we also need a commitment from you. The one ingredient you need to maintain throughout any process is willingness. Anyone can possess desire, but to truly own your goals, you must demonstrate a willingness to put in the hard work, face your biggest fears and anxieties, be honest with yourself, and to open your mind to the possibilities that lie in different ideas. Once you start to achieve your goals with consistency and your aim is fulfilled, and you will start to understand that you did this on your own.
Through your willingness, we help create pathways for comfort and orientation; in turn, enabling you to perform safe and effective paddlesports technique.
Which by the way, is a lot of fun…
Youth Program Mission:
Building leaders and stewards for tomorrow by connecting kids to environments, peers, and communities today.
The H2o Dreams Mission prong of creating pathways for comfort and orientation to perform safe and effective technique is taken a step further with our youth programming. We ardently believe we are building the next generation of river ambassadors; with that consideration, our focus exceeds just the hard skills necessary to be successful in whitewater kayaking. We are reconnecting kids with the natural environment, their peers and community, and themselves.
All of our Youth Programming is built on “The Three Pillars” of ambassadorship, leadership, and stewardship.
Ambassadors
Our philosophy is that the more paddlers of ambassador quality, the better the recruitment becomes for our sport, hence, creating a more sustainable sport for all. We personally feel that if a student solely relies on his/her instructor throughout his/her paddling career, then we have not done our job effectively in creating self sufficiency and individual independence. We will equip your child with the skill sets to get his/her friends and family involved in paddle sports so that we may have more ambassadors for our great sport and the natural environment in which we play. Why does this matter? Kids have the opportunity to advocate for rivers, people, and experiences that have proven to be transformative and positive. By seeking to create ambassadors, kids will learn not only to invest in themselves, but also the world surrounding, and, in turn, pursue the community at large to join in.
Leaders
Knowing when to lead and follow are both equally important qualities of a great leader. The river demands humility, teamwork, and a strong understanding of self and capability. Kayaking will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a paddler, offering the opportunity for your child to shine in moments of comfort and strength, and grow in moments of uncertainty. Paddlers of all ages must check ego and preconceived notion at the door in order to succeed moving downstream, and this is an experience none too timely to explore than in the formative years of a young person. Judgment, decision making, community effort, and self confidence are just a few of the gifts the river has to offer. These skills will translate to life off the water, allowing kids to pursue leadership as paddlers, students, athletes, and community members for a lifetime. We know that the river is a metaphor for life.
Stewards
We have to have a formidable connection with something in order to value it, seek it, and fight to protect it. Kayaking will foster a relationship between your child and his/her natural environment built on understanding, connectivity, and exploration. Kids will grow to understand water tables and watersheds, rain patterns, river ecology, and more as the relationship between paddler and river becomes intertwined. Mindfulness regarding impact on land and respectful usage becomes harder and harder to ignore as young paddlers gain awareness of their place on the water and the land that affords the opportunity to access it. Hands on, experiential learning of technical skills like safety and rescue, water reading, and stroke work as well as soft skills like compassion, inclusiveness, and self reliance will be invaluable to your child as he/she enters adulthood. Pursuing qualities of stewardship in our youth programming means equipping young people with the skills and experiences to evaluate every situation with both human and natural elements in play in the interest of posterity.
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