On the 17th of April in 1973, a group of friends met on the River Trent and formed Stafford and Stone Canoe Club, meaning that this year the club will celebrate being in operation for half a century!
Since that April day the club has gone from strength to strength introducing thousands of adults and children to the sport of Canoe Slalom.
The club was formed by Olympians John & Pauline Goodwin and GB Team paddlers Ken Langford; this high standard of paddler has been the building blocks the club has grown from.
The club continues to produce world-class paddlers to this day and, in fact, currently makes up a large percentage of the British Canoeing squads and GB Team.
The club are so proud to have recently been able to watch Adam Burgess finally getting to race at Tokyo 2020, Joe Clarke winning his Gold medal in Rio 2016, and Lizzie Neave flying the flag at London 2012.
These club members have and still continue to inspire the current juniors who, like Joe, Adam and Lizzie, all took their first go in a slalom kayak in Stone.
A spokesperson told A Little Bit of Stone:
“We cannot wait to see what the next generation of Stone paddlers will go on to achieve, maybe one of the juniors having a taster in a few weeks’ time will be standing on the top step of the Olympic podium in years to come.
Like all clubs, the social side is very important, and as the founding members did on the 17th of April 1973, we will be meeting this year for drinks at the Dog & Doublet where it all started.
We look forward to the next 50 years and the enjoyment the club brings to so many and to celebrate the success of our paddlers at all levels.”
For more information or to find out how you can have a go at canoe slalom, please visit: www.staffordandstonecc.co.uk
