SPRINGFIELD — The Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club (PVRC) will host a dragon boat open house on Saturday, May 18 from 9 a.m. to noon at the PVRC Boathouse at North Riverfront Park, 121 West St., Springfield. PVRC will welcome the Veterans Dragon Boat USA team, which is recruiting new veterans to its team that will compete in this year’s PVRC Dragon Boat Festival.

The open house is for all to attend to learn more about rowing, dragon boating, and kayaking programs available to the public at PVRC this summer.

PVRC is preparing for its 10th annual Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday, July 20, and registration is now open for teams to participate at www.pvriverfront.org. Teams that sign up prior to May 27 receive an early-bird discount.

Veterans Dragon Boat USA is the nation’s first sustained all-veteran dragon boat team. At the open house on May 18, which is Armed Forces Day, veterans are encouraged to come and learn more about the team and how to join. No experience is necessary, only a desire to learn a new sport alongside fellow veterans.

According to Ben Quick, executive director of PVRC, “a dragon boat is like a 20-person canoe. The feeling of this many people all working together is inspiring, energizing, and rewarding. Come give it a try and see why it’s such a popular way to enjoy recreation, exercise, and teamwork.”

The Springfield Dragon Boat Festival, which has been hosted by the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club since 2013, attracts hundreds of participants and spectators to the banks of the Connecticut River for a day of competition, festivity, and community support. The festival is an important fundraiser in support of breast-cancer survivors and community programming at the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club.

More than 20 teams with hundreds of paddlers from throughout New England participate in PVRC’s Dragon Boat Festival each year. A team is comprised of up to 20 paddlers who race against other teams in 200-meter races on the Connecticut River. Each race lasts about one minute, and each team races at least three times on the day of the festival. Dragon boating originated in China 2,000 years ago and today is one of the world’s fastest-growing team water sports.

SPRINGFIELD — In a move to support growth, outreach, and overall program quality, the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club (PVRC) hired Scott Branscomb as head coach. Branscomb, who speaks Spanish and English, will work with PVRC Executive Director Ben Quick and organization leadership to continue PVRC’s post-pandemic recovery.

Branscomb rowed competitively for UMass, where he graduated with dual degrees in Spanish and comparative literature before earning a master’s degree in teaching from the University of New Hampshire. In his 14 years of rowing experience, he has served community and club programs in a variety of roles. He worked the last four years in Connecticut as director and head coach of Middle School and Development Programs for Greenwich Crew. Among his achievements there, he operated an outreach program for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Greenwich Public Schools.

“My rowing and coaching experience has reinforced the importance of building a team from which people can derive personal friendships, joy, and meaning,” Branscomb said. “I try to frame my actions and decisions through the lens of, ‘what will make the community better?’”

At the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club, Branscomb returns to the waters of the Connecticut River, where he first rowed, and to his roots in the nonprofit world, where he feels at home. “There are programs that want to win and those that want to increase accessibility. I envision PVRC as an organization that can achieve both,” he said.

Quick added that “Scott is a great fit for our rowers, our mission, and our community on many levels, and we are excited to work with him to bring PVRC back to its pre-pandemic condition.”