Welcome to the BAD Youth Team
Introducing the BAD Youth Team 🥳
We are the founding youth dragon boat team on the Peninsula with members from the vibrant and diverse highschool communities in the Bay Area. We train on the water together, we race together, we volunteer together!
Our team is composed of young athletes between the ages of 13-18, primarily from Foster City Bowditch Middle School, Aragon High School, San Mateo High School and Hillsdale High School
Our goals in building this team are:
Develop physical strength, endurance and a growth mindset
Teach discipline, teamwork, commitment, and sacrifice
Contribute to building a true sense of community and molding positive, strong-minded young athletes
Latest Accolades:
#1 Fastest youth club on the Peninsula (2025)
1st in BAD Sprints B Divison (2025)
1st in Portland (2025)
1st in B Division in Vancouver, Canada (2025)
1st in B Division in Howl (2024)
2 youth national paddlers bringing back 10 medals from Worlds (2025)
2nd in Long Beach (2025)
2nd in Portland (2024)
3rd in Portland (2023)
What is dragonboating?
A dragon boat is a 44 feet long boat that seats 20 paddlers. A team is composed of 22 people with 20 paddlers, a drummer, and a steers person paddling in sync to compete against other boats. Dragon boat races are usually 500 meters in distance and 2-3 minutes long. There are also 200 meter sprints and 2K long-distance races. 🚩
Dragonboat racing is amazing to watch and an adrenaline rush to race! The sport has a rich history, originating in ancient China over 2,000 years ago as a ritualistic event and has since evolved into a competitive and globally popular activity. It is one of the fastest growing water sports in North America. 🌎
Charity, Race, Party, Fun,
Charity, Race, Party, Fun,
Not only do we race, we volunteer and give back to the community:
Notable events:
October Sprints (volunteer + race)
Novice Race (volunteer + race)
Corporate team building events (volunteer)
Novice Race Practices (volunteer)
Joining Us 🤟
*We provide all necessary equipment including life jackets, paddles, boats, and expert coaching.
Practices are by advanced RSVP ONLY, see contact information below. If you are 19 or older, please click this LINK to check out our adult team for practices.
Location 🌎
We are located at the Foster City Boat Park close to the parking lot next to the dog park area.
Bay Area Dragons, Bounty Dr &, Foster City Blvd, Foster City, CA 94404
Saturday/Sunday Practices: 10:30am
What should you bring? 🚰
A water bottle, and a life jacket if you have one. We recommend you wear waterproof clothes and bring a positive attitude.
Membership Information 💸
First 3 practices with BAD Youth are FREE (all equipment is provided). After the 3 trial sessions, the paddler must get a membership to continue. With all practices, even trial sessions, you must fill in a waiver to paddle. (Fill as club member)
Yearly Youth Membership (2025/26 calendar year) 📆
Youth: $140 ($120 for returning) - for reference, rowing is at least a few THOUSAND; this is a commitment fee, we are a non-profit
Membership includes subsidized race fees, free team building events (TACOS), outrigger canoe access, international coaching clinics, etc
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Coach, Captain
The BAD Youth Team is founded by Steven Sah, who has been paddling since grade school and has over 7 years of paddling, steering, and drumming experience. He has lead the Team USA’s Open Crew as captain and Small Boat Mixed Crew as lead stroke to a historic full sweep 4 golds in the 2025 World Championships in Germany. He is also part of the first USA Juniors Team to win the Juniors Cup for U18. He has also lead the coaching of 4 straight podium appearances this season, including an international Gold in Canada. He is currently training for the next Worlds (Hong Kong), training to be a certified steers, and Coaching BAD Youth in hopes of being the fastest youth crew in the nation.
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Assistant Coach
Al possesses 15 years of paddling experience, racing dragon boats throughout the United States and on 4 continents. He also has a long coaching tenure, mentoring youth, adult, masters and non-visual paddlers. Al is also a race-certified steerer, with steering certifications in several jurisdictions throughout the US.
On the international stage, Al successfully competed at two IDBF Club Crew World Championships (CCWC): 10th CCWC in Australia and the 11th CCWC in Hungary. Last summer, Al earned a seat with the US National Team and raced at the 16th World Nations Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Thailand.
