A GREAT day at the kickoff!!

What a perfect morning for the Houston Heat 2024 Season Kick-off! We want to thank all of the adventurous first-timers as well as our dedicated members for coming out to make it one of the biggest and best kick-offs yet! Watch out as we set the water on fire!! 🔥 HEAT IT UP!!! ❤️‍🔥

Check out more photos , videos and latest updates at our Facebook page, follow and like us!

From the very beginning

The very first Houston Heat crew formed in the summer of 2006, specifically to head to Nationals in Tampa that same year!

With heart and perseverance, we went from the humble beginnings of forming a small dragon team in Houston to forging a path towards a culture that now expands over 10 dragon boat clubs and hundred of paddlers across Texas and its neighboring states. Now we are set to take on the world! “ – Jeff Gee

16th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships

While we are still celebrating the 2023 Club Crew National Championships win with our teammates who raced with the Lone Star Dragons , we want now want to turn our attention to the upcoming 16th International Dragon Boat Federation World Dragon Boat Racing Champions held next week in Thailand! We are very proud that Team USA will be represented by our very own, Jackson Lau, Joel Castaneda and Michael Zheng, who are long time members of Houston Heat. We are also excited for Texas paddlers, Shirley Che, Rhonda Gideon, Elizabeth Olivares, John Jamerlan and Scott Baltisberger, who will also be on Team USA! We wish them all safe travels as they make their way to Rayong, Pattaya. Racing will start next week at the Royal Thai Navy Rowing and Canoeing Training Center. Best of luck to our friends as well as all the racers!!

HH represented at 2023 Club Crew National Championships!!

A Texas-sized congratulations goes out to the Lone Star Dragons on their championship win in Sarasota last weekend at the USDBF Club Crew National Championships 2023 ! It was truly awesome to watch the team, which included several of our very own Houston Heat paddlers, battling it out against some of the fastest teams in the country! With this win, LSD has earned a berth to the 2024 Club Crew World Champions in Ravenna. Italy! They let it be known that Texas is now a true player in the elite competitive dragon boat world!

Hats off to our very own Houston Heat paddlers and coaches for their contributions to the success of the Lone Star Dragons’ spectacular showing at the 2023 Club Crew National Championships!!

2022 Houston Heat Membership Dues

Greetings paddlers.  It is now time to renew your membership with Houston Heat.  The Houston Heat Board has made the decision to maintain the same membership rates as the last several years.

For the 2022 year, the annual membership rate is $200. There is a one-time $20 Administrative Charge for brand new members.

You can submit a check to the PO Box or submit payment via QuickPay with Zelle to houstonheatdragonboat@gmail.com.

Please visit the Houston Heat Join Our Team page to learn more about how to become a member. You can also complete the online membership form and read the Houston Heat Code of Conduct at this page.

Houston Heat at the 14th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships

During the last week of August, 2019, the 14th IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships were held in Thailand. Over 3,500 dragon boat athletes from 29 nations gathered in Pattaya for the 5-day, biennial event.  Houston Heat athletes Jackson Lau and Joel Castaneda qualified to be on the National Team and helped Team USA bring home many medals from different race distances in the Senior A divisions.  The United States ranks 3rd overall in medal count.

The competition in Thailand was fierce this year, with a couple of records being broken in the 200-meter race. China’s premiere open team broke the world record with an impressive 39.251 seconds; the previous record of 40.02 seconds was held for a decade by the Philippines National Team since 2009. Canada’s premiere women’s team also broke the world record with their finish time at 45.958 seconds.

Now that the World Championship in Thailand is over, dragon boat athletes around the world will start their training for 2021 when the next World Championship will return to Hong Kong, a significant city where many athletes believe modern dragon boat racing got its start in 1976.

Early Bird Special on 2020 Memberships

It is that time of year again to provide paddlers the opportunity to take advantage of the Early Bird Specials for the 2020 year. The Houston Heat Board has made the decision to maintain the same membership rates as the last few years.

For the 2020 year, the annual membership rate is $200. There is a one-time $20 Administrative Charge for brand new members.

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: For a limited time, Houston Heat is offering an Early Bird Special Discount if you submit your dues by February 15, 2020 with a completed and signed membership form to the Houston Heat PO BOX (address is listed in the form) – Memberships will be $175.00 for returning members and $185.00 for brand new members (50% off of the one-time admin charge).  You can submit a check to the PO Box or submit payment via QuickPay with Zelle to houstonheatdragonboat@gmail.com.

Don’t delay. This discount will end at midnight on February 15, 2020. Your check/Quickpay and form must be post marked and delivered by this date. Please visit the Houston Heat Join Our Team page to learn more about how to become a member. You can also download the membership form and read the Houston Heat Code of Conduct at this page.

Houston Heat at the ICF Dragon Boat World Championship

Our club wants to congratulate seven paddlers (plus Bong, Heather’s husband) on making the ICF National Team:

Jackson Lau
Christi Pham
Liying Zhao
Heather Mercado
Joel Castaneda
Ha Nguyen
Mas Nash, Master Women’s Coach

The 2018 ICF Dragon Boat World Championships were held at Lake Lanier, GA—the same location where the U.S. held the 1996 Olympics for rowing, canoe, and kayak events.  The event was held from September 13—16, 2018.  Over the 4 days, Team USA paddled fiercely and racked up medals in different divisions.  The final medal count for Team USA was 15 Golds, 13 Silvers, and 8 Bronzes.  Team USA also won the Nations Cup by having the highest medal count.

Each of these paddlers have dedicated a lot of their time, training to be on Team USA.  Their hard work and dedication paid off when they all took home some hardware and even spent some time on top of the podium with the flag flying high, singing the national anthem.  Mike Nguyen from our team was also part of Team USA as a volunteer MacGyver and photographer.  Our Houston Heat’s head coach, Jeff Gee, also traveled to the race venue from Houston to cheer on the Heaters and Team USA Paddlers.

The next ICF Dragon Boat World Championship will be held in 2020, in India.  If you want to train to be a part of Team USA, the training needs to start now!  Each individual plays a small part in the making of a great team.  When everyone on the team gets stronger, the boat gets stronger!