Come Celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month With Us
Tickets are now available through Eventbrite for the Pink Harvest Gala on October 25, 2025.
Celebrate survivors, honour loved ones, and raise funds to support the healing power of exercise, teamwork, and community cancer support. Check out our Events page for more information.
About the Kamloops Spirit Warriors Dragon Boat Team
Our History
The Spirit Warriors is the only breast cancer survivor dragon boat team serving Kamloops, British Columbia and its surrounding area. The team was founded in 2008 by five women who recognized the importance of addressing the physical, emotional, and social needs of breast cancer survivors. They knew that the sport of dragon boating was both a popular and beneficial activity for survivors of breast cancer, and therefore, wanted to establish a team in their local community. Since the team's inception, the Spirit Warriors have paddled from May through September on the beautiful South Thompson River.
Our Mission
We firmly believe that breast cancer survivors can lead rich and fulfilling lives after cancer; however, this journey is not one that can be undertaken alone. Our mission is to create an environment that promotes fitness, fun, and friendship for breast cancer survivors of any age and athletic ability. The Spirit Warriors believe that the sport of dragon boating brings together, empowers and lifts the spirits of participants. We are stronger together.
Our Achievements
Over the years, members of the Spirit Warriors have competed in local festivals in British Columbia annually, as well as in International Breast Cancer Dragon Boat Festivals: Peterborough, Ontario (2010), Sarasota, Florida (2014), Florence, Italy (2018),and Lake Karapiro, New Zealand (2023). Our team is also actively committed to serving cancer survivors in our community through volunteerism, fundraising, and participating in awareness events.
Breast Cancer and Dragon Boating
Where It All Began - The Canadian Connection
The idea of dragon boating being a beneficial sport for breast cancer survivors originated in Canada at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In 1996 Dr. Don McKenzie, a professor in the Department of Sports Medicine and an exercise physiologist, challenged the common medical perception of the time that women treated for breast cancer should avoid strenuous upper body exercise in order to prevent lymphedema.
Dr. McKenzie developed a program to determine the impact of exercise on breast cancer survivors and choose dragon boating as the perfect sport using strenuous, repetitive upper body motion. He trained 24 breast cancer volunteers in a gym for three months, introduced them to dragon boats, and taught them paddling techniques. By the end of the three months, not only had none of the women developed lymphedema, they had also become fitter, healthier, and happier. McKenzie's group of volunteers became the first breast cancer survivor dragon boat team - Abreast in a Boat.
Word spread of the physical and emotional benefits of dragon boating for breast cancer survivors, and soon Abreast in a Boat was joined by other breast cancer survivor dragon boat teams in Canada. Soon the movement expanded worldwide, with thousands of teams now participating globally.
The Spirit Warriors enjoying their visit with Dr. Don McKenzie at the Friday evening survivorship party at 2024’s Penticton Dragon Boat Festival.
Spirit Warrior, Cheryl, meets Dr.Don at the 2025 Concord Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver where the 30th anniversary of breast cancer paddling was being celebrated.
The Flower Ceremony
As a breast cancer survivor only team, every dragon boat festival that the Spirit Warriors participate in must have a Flower Ceremony. This heartfelt tradition began in 1997 with a Vancouver breast cancer team tossing pink carnations into the water after their final race in order to honour a teammate who was facing a recurrence of the disease. The tradition quickly spread to other dragon boat festivals across North America and then worldwide.
During the Flower Ceremony, breast cancer survivors and those affected by the disease come together to celebrate and offer hope to survivors, and to honour and remember those who are no longer with us. The ceremony takes place after the final breast cancer survivor race and consists of a short speech from a survivor, touching music accompanied by the waving of pink flowers, and finally the throwing of the flowers into the water either from the boats or from the shore.
