Na Leo O Ke Kai paddlers traveled to California in Feb. to meet up with Oceanside OCC, who generously loaned canoes and shared wonderful mana. These experiences contribute to our paddlers’ ocean skills and sets everyone up for competition in the 2024 SCORA races series (photo gallery below).

In addition to building distance and ocean skills, Na Leo paddlers are in month six of training to represent the mainland U.S. for the International Va’a Federation World Sprint Races in Hilo this coming August. Na Leo club member Alicia Lin Kee serves as coach for Team Phoenix (an all Arizona group that brings together competitive paddlers from Na Leo O Ke Kai, Team Arizona OCC, AZDBA and others from Havasu OCC, Oregon and California). Team Phoenix racers qualified last Oct. and we have Na Leo paddlers in the USA elite crew, in addition to Team Phoenix representing in club crew in women’s open, 40s, 50s, 60s and men’s open, 40s and 50s. Team Phoenix continues Na Leo O Ke Kai tradition over the last decade of representing the USA internationally with IVF (including a silver medal win in V12 500M sprints at IVF in Rio de Janiero in 2014).