“I just ask the ladies for three things,” says dragon boat captain and coach Sandra Skopaz. “To be good teammates. To be good competitors. And to be good community citizens.”
As leader and head steersperson for the Dragon Sisters, she leads her 47 team members, three mornings a week, through practice and drills on Lake Miona. During many weekends in the season, the team participates in local and regional regattas.
Sandra’s interest in dragon boating came after moving to The Villages in 2010.
“I was riding my bike around Lake Sumter and by the Waterfront Inn, saw the boats and thought, ‘that’s something I want to do,’” she says.
Then, like an omen, she saw an ad that a new women’s team was looking for members.
“I’d been on teams before but not at this age and not with all women,” she says. “It sparked something that kept me coming back.”
Dragon boating dates back more than 2,000 years, probably to China, although similar traditions are found in other locations. The 12-meter, 1,500-pound teak boats – usually with 20 paddlers, a steersperson and a drummer – race in sprints across a measured 500-meter or 1,000-meter course. There also are smaller boats with 10 paddlers. And there are 62 national associations worldwide.
The objective of Sandra’s first team was to compete internationally, and in 2014 they traveled to Ravenna, Italy, for the World Dragon Boat Championships.
“When we returned, the coach decided to move on, but a core group of us wanted to stay together,” said Sandra, who stepped up and took on the leadership role. “Today, there are still three of us from that original group with the Dragon Sisters.”
Sandra was well qualified. Leadership and motivation have been part of her life for several decades.
A native of Sayreville, N.J., Sandra holds an advanced degree in supply train, materials management and transportation from Monmouth University. She managed distribution centers for Michelin for a number of years and then moved to FedEx, retiring after 23 years in May 2018.
“I was very fortunate,” she says. “Michelin and FedEx devote a lot of time making sure that management folks are well-trained team players. I really fall back on that a lot.”
The new team of paddlers decided to be a bit different. Rather than accepting members just from The Villages, they operate their two boats from Lake Miona Park, a Sumter County facility, so they can take paddlers from anywhere in the area.
“Virtually all of our new members are novices,” Sandra says. “Our ladies make them feel welcome – everybody was once a novice – and we teach them how to paddle.”
Not everyone learns at the same pace.
“We say that you’ll get it when you get it,” Sandra says, pointing out that some of the ‘Sisters’ had never been on an organized sports team before.
There’s some other big differences about the Dragon Sisters – they’re the only year-round senior all-women’s team in the area, the only team with a senior 10-person breast cancer survivor unit, and a team that has made a major commitment to charitable work.
Their charities include Sozo Kids, Wildwood Elementary School and Haven House.
“We try to create an environment that encourages women, really reaches back into the community, and does good things for women and children,” Sandra says. “The Dragon Sisters are very strong women who have had professional lives, and they can get stuff done.”
In addition to paddling, Sandra also is very involved in Villages Honor flights as a guardian and, more recently, as a bus captain. She describes the experience as “humbling and emotional.”
At some point during the very long day – the pickup starts at 1:30 a.m. and the flight arrives back in The Villages more 24 hours later – every veteran sheds some tears, she says.
Not surprisingly, Sandra is no stranger to The Villages.
“My Mom and Dad retired here in 1982, so I’m second generation,” she laughs. “They lived in Orange Blossom and there wasn’t much here back then. Most of the shopping was in Leesburg or Ocala. We never thought the development would go south of 466.”
Along with Lynn, her spouse of 35 years, Sandra moved to the Village of Pennecamp in 2010.
“We were living in Memphis and didn’t enjoy it much,” she says. “I told FedEx we were moving to Florida and, fortunately, I could do my job remotely. FedEx said ‘OK, tell us when you get there.’”
Seeing life in practical terms is part of Sandra’s personal philosophy and dragon boating is no exception. Before she was a coach, she paddled next to a woman who had been an operating room nurse but was always nervous about the race.
“I told her that what she did for a living was life or death. This is just a race!” Sandra says.
One of the joys of being a Dragon Sister is the fun. Since Sandra is a self-described “Kentucky Derby fanatic,” team members must wear a fancy hat if the race day falls on the first Saturday in May. Other race days might include a fashion show. And the Dragon Sisters’ appreciation for the nuances of Fireball Whiskey is legendary in the local dragon boating community.
But Sandra admits she is still learning her role as captain: “I just spend a lot of time trying to figure out what makes people tick.”
Meanwhile, she feels rewarded.
“I’m just enjoying being here and leading the group,” she says. “Whatever I give I get back tenfold.”
Women 60 and over, from The Villages and surrounding area, who would like to try dragon boating can call Sandra at (352) 638-8309 for more information.
John W Prince is a writer and Villages resident. For more information visit www.GoMyStory.com.
