Families take on the Truckee River as a recreational activity

Amelia Calvert, reno.com
May 14, 2007

Alec Voorhees, a 10-year-old freckle-faced kid from Boise, Idaho, squints into the sun and reveals he's been kayaking with his family since he was about 6. Intimidating for those who've never been in a kayak. This kid already has four years under his belt, and he can do tricks!

He is among the world's finest kayakers in Reno this weekend to participate in River Fest, held downtown at the Whitewater Park along the Truckee River. The annual event drew 21,000 people in 2006, 24% of the attendees were from outside the area, and the event contributed more than $3.1 million to local revenue, according to Kund Svendsen, RSCVA vice president of sales and marketing. This year, organizers were expecting 30,000 to attend.

International athletes competed in open-registration events in races, boater cross and freestyle kayaking. Among the participants were five-time Men's World Cup Champion Eric Jackson, Jay Kincaid, of Reno, Ruth Gordon, Tanya Faux and Emily Jackson, 17.

Alec's mom, Jody Voorhees, looks on as Alec, dressed in bright orange water-wear, describes his favorite trick, the Phonics Monkey, and flicks his sun-bleached hair from his eyes. The Voorhees family, including dad, Mike, and younger brother, Hayden, 7, are all kayakers.

It's easy to see where Alec gets his exhuberance for the sport. "I love his hobby," Jody said. She and Mike planned to get Alec in a kayak when he reached about about 8 or 10 years old, but Alec couldn't wait that long.

"He was about 6 years old when he began insisting we get him a kayak," Jody said.

Supportive parents go a long way in a child's success, an no one knows that more than Karen Craig, who stands beside her son, Jason, 13, the Junior National Freestyle Kayak Champion. His last competition before coming home to Reno's River Fest was in Rock Island, Tenn. Jason said he has been kayaking all his life and became serious about competing after he participated in a River Fest clinic, about four years ago.

The timeline is something hotly contested between Jason, and best friend Dane Jackson, also 13. Jackson insists the boys met in 2003, when he first let Jason sit in his boat. The boys argue and try to work the details out, grinning, running, tugging and and laughing all the while. It's easy to see how that little bit of friendly competition brings out the best in the other.

According to Karen, the boys train together when they can and always have fun. Whether in or out-of the water, it's evident these guys are pals, as they zip around Wingfield Park on skateboards once they get out of the wetsuits.

"Watching them together is trip. They are so much fun. The nicest part is they cheer each other on. They are hardcore athletes, but at the same time just kids."

When Dane competed in the Worlds' Cup on the Internet, Jason was glued to the monitor, watching. The family kept furiously hitting the "refresh" button on the webcast so they could see if Dane had taken first place, and when the saw that he had sealed it, Jason errupted in his "First-Place" song-and-dance for his friend miles away in cyberspace.

The boys are only a week apart by birthdays, but Jackson lives in Tennesee, making the boys time together rare, but special. Although the boys are young competitors, they are focused athletes.

"They take it seriously, but it's all joy," Karen said. She adds at one point during the day, seven kids under age 18 filled the training area. She looked at the young athletes in the water including Dane, Jason, both 13, Alec,10, a little girl from Reno named Sage, 6, Jonathan Shales, 16, from Alabama and Emily Jackson, 17, and said, "That's the future of kayaking right there."

She also remarked that high school kayaking programs are filling quickly and the sports' popularity is exploding. Lots of area teens take up kayaking and play in the Reno Whitewater Park or kayak at Tahoe and visit beautiful canyons full of trees and waterfalls.

Shales, from Huntsville, Alambama heard about Reno from Jason Craig at an event last summer. This was Shales' first time in Reno and he was impressed with the park.

"It's awesome," he said of the Truckee Whitewater Park. "It's in the top 10 I've been in."

Shales has been river running since he was about 8 years old and competes in playboarding , or freestyle, as much as he can. The travel becomes difficult at times. His father got him into kayaking when he was a kid, and his favorite spots back home are Locust Fort and Little River Canyon.

Shales' offers this advice for kids who want to get into kayaking: "Find a group of people who are good at it to go with or get good instructors. Make sure it feels good, safe and comfortable and have fun with it. "