OUR HISTORY
Northampton is a New England college town on a historic stretch of the Connecticut River. Singer/actress Jenny Lind visited in the 19th century and proclaimed it to be “Paradise City.”
In 2016, when the coach for a Springfield dragon boat team decided to start a new team in her hometown, 14 team members moved upriver with her. Together, they launched Northampton’s first racing team for cancer survivors and supporters: Paradise City Dragon Boat.
We are breast cancer and all cancer survivors and supporters in our 30s to 80s. We live in Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin Counties, including in communities on the borders of Vermont and Connecticut. Ten months of the year, we work out together on the river or on land, two evenings a week. It’s a commitment that’s endured since day one.
Three of the 14 original members are active with the team. Over the years, nearly 120 women and men have been paddlers with our “Originals.”
As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, our team’s growth and strength can be gauged by many measures.
Like any new team starting out, we used other people’s equipment and workout spaces for years until we had enough funds for our own. The first year’s indoor practices were at Holyoke Rows. We borrowed two second-hand dragon boats and a safety launch for water practices at Northampton Community Rowing. NCR shared their ergs and space with us at a variety of rented retail spaces for indoor practices. The arrangement came to a halt when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down group gatherings. Around that time, large ice blocks on fast-moving currents rearranged the river and tore away NCR’s new metal docks. We had to move.
Practices were in Northampton Community Rowing’s boat storage building and at the Connecticut River Greenway Park’s public boat landing.
With help from our families, friends, business sponsors and individual donors, and the success of our team’s fundraising efforts, we now operate independently. We own two brand-new 20-person and one 10-person dragon boats and a safety launch. Our “boathouse” is a garden shed at the marina where we rent dock space during water season. The Smith and UMass rowing boathouses are our neighbors. Off the water, we rent indoor space for workouts on our rowing and paddle ergometers to maintain strength and endurance until we can get out on the river again.
Our safety captain watches over us. He keeps a close eye on weather conditions and boat traffic. Escorting us in the safety launch, he protects us on the river.
Our coaches teach and train us to be athletes who paddle efficiently and in unison. Our team’s founder was our first coach and steer. Over the years, we have developed more coaches and steers from within the team.
Founder
2016-2024
Betsy Powell
It all began with Betsy’s dream of a team for cancer survivors and supporters. In her eight years at the helm, she steered Paradise City Dragon Boat toward success through her hard work, leadership and coaching talent.
Co-Coach
2024-2025
Allison Rebello
Allison is one of the “Originals” who were first to join the team. She has been a powerhouse paddler in the engine room, a steer and a team captain. In treatment for metastatic breast cancer since 2019, she became a co-coach in 2024.
Co-Coach
2024-2025
Rachel Levey
Rachel was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 when she was 29 years old. After two years of intensive treatment, she began to heal when she found dragon boating in 2019. A paddler and a steer, she took on the role of co-coach in 2024.
We are a racing team whose training yields results.
Since 2016, Paradise City Dragon Boat has won gold, silver and bronze medals at many races, such as in Boston, Hartford, Springfield, Burlington, VT and the ERDBA Regionals in Princeton, NJ.
In 2025, one of our co-coaches was the youngest person selected for Team USA to compete in the new racing category for breast cancer survivors at the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Germany.
Early on, we started getting media attention. Our gold medal win at the Boston Dragon Boat Festival in 2018 made news on local television and the front page of the local newspaper’s sports section. BBC Sports Hour, the international radio program, featured an interview with two of our team’s breast cancer survivors about their experiences on a dragon boat team.
A documentary film crew from Small Forces in Chicago spent time with us in Northampton and Boston in 2018 and created “Paddle Together,” a five-minute video about our team, in 2019. It was selected for the PBS Short Film Festival in 2020.
From earning a gold medal at our first race in 2016 in Boston, to competing internationally for the first time in 2025 at the Pan-American Club Crew Championships in Montreal, each year brings new challenges and growth opportunities.
The joy of dragon boating is contagious.
Members of Paradise City Dragon Boat keep sharing their joy with more people in more places. In 2020, three of our “Originals” formed Veterans Dragon Boat USA, the nation’s first dragon boat team for former and active military service members. That same year, Bay State Connection Dragons was co-founded by members of three Massachusetts teams, including Paradise City Dragon Boat. A team of breast cancer survivors and supporters, BSCD races with teams from around the world at the International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission’s festivals, first in New Zealand in 2023, and next in France in 2026.
In 2023, Paradise City members paddling with Bay State Connection Dragons were among the 2,275 breast cancer paddlers from 30 countries to attend the International Breast Cancer Commission (IBCPC) Participatory Dragon Boat Festival in New Zealand.
Together through setbacks and change
Some difficult times tested our resilience. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to get creative about keeping the team together. Stuck at home, we held workouts on Zoom. Weary of the isolation and missing each other, we met up outdoors wearing masks and sat six feet apart. We went hiking, snowshoeing and kayaking. Eventually, restrictions on group gatherings eased. With new rules about attendance, masks and vaccinations in place, we returned to paddling.
We experienced the anguish of losing two beloved members to breast cancer in 2023 and 2025. In 2024, after eight years in the top role, our founder stepped down. Our team adapted to this pivotal moment in our history, buoyed by the steady leadership of our co-coaches, captains and board of directors.
Through sunshine and storms, our team has remained united by bonds that reach far beyond the boat. For many members, this community has become a source of strength, support, and belonging through life's challenges.
Powering up for the next decade
In 2023-2025, our team used a new recruitment plan that brought in 37 new paddlers. This was a substantial growth spurt, positioning us to be competitive in a wider range of races in 2026. As the team has grown, our community connections have extended throughout the Pioneer Valley.
During our final practice of the 2025 water season, we filled three dragon boats and gave shoutouts of gratitude for each other and every beautiful night on the river. We look forward to many more moments like these in 2026 and in the years to come.
Now a team of 57 strong, we share a love of the water and living life to the fullest.
