Hi everyone, Ellen here

Please allow me to tell you a little bit of myself and how I got into Stand Up Paddleboarding.
I was born in the Netherlands, and grew up with in a family with a love for the outdoors and travelling. Many vacations were spent camping, either on the ocean side, or mountains and lakes all over Europe.

In my twenties, I volunteered (together with my now husband René) as a camp counselor, and did many one week overnight summer camps with youth and teenagers. One year, we came to Calgary for vacation in the summer and fell I love with this beautiful country. Skipping forward a couple of years, and we were immigrating to Calgary, which has been our home now for more then 20 years.

When our oldest son started as a beaver in our local Scout troop, a new chapter of volunteering started. Our other 2 sons joined the same troop, so now all the boys were enjoying the outdoors. I started as a parent volunteer, and later became a scout leader. We had 3 girls in the program, and a female leader was required to keep them in the program.

We have been very fortunate to travel around with our kids, being it camping, hiking and climbing, biking the Kettle Valley Rail trail in BC, or canoeing and kayaking in the Ardeche, France.

Several years ago Astrid introduced me to Standup paddle boarding. A new hobby was born! What a great way to be outside and enjoy the beautiful lakes and clear water we have all around us. What better way to share this newfound hobby then getting more people interested in this awesome sport!

In March 2018 I took a WPA course and became a Level I paddle board instructor.

 

PaddleAway.today is proud to say that we’re an affiliate and ambassador of Paddle Into Fitness, WPA certified member and SUPIA member.

More than paddle boarding…

When I first heard about SUPKids, I was curious to what it was, and started reading up about Linzi (the founder) and her vision for the younger generation and a cleaner planet. The SUPKids program goes much further than just paddle board lessons. It educates the kids to be aware of the pollution all around us, threatening our open waters. Once children get enthusiastic about a (water) sport, they understand better how important it is to look after this precious resource, or they will not be able to enjoy it anymore

For quite some time now Astrid and I enjoy fitness at SurfSet YYC which is a great way to build up strength and balance, and it has helped me with my confidence in paddling as well. We are certainly not the youngest ones working out, but isn’t 50 the new 30?

Give paddle boarding a try, everyone can do it, and it’s good for the body and soul.
Book a lesson or contact us now for more information.

Hope to see you soon!

Ellen

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