2020 Season Recap
Dear B’More SUP Community,
I have spent the first few days of 2021 looking back over the past year and setting intentions for the year that lies ahead. I have made it a New Years ritual to sit down for several days and do a deep dive into what worked and what didn’t work in the prior year while also making lists of all that I am grateful for and proud of. And while this year has certainly been a year unlike any other, each challenge that was brought forth created new opportunities to adapt, learn and grow.
I am incredibly proud of what our staff and community made possible throughout the entire year and I am unbelievably grateful for you, our clients, who continued to support us and show us love during a very interesting year.
Here are a few highlights from 2020:
Early in the spring when the pandemic first hit we created several online offerings including our popular Core Challenge (we had 222 of you join that challenge!), the Summer Strong Program and even a few Virtual Retreats.
By the time our typical Opening Day rolled around in May we were still living in quarantine and following strict guidelines from Governor Hogan to keep our community properly distanced and safe. There was no big opening celebration this year; however, we were able to get small groups of people outside in nature and moving their bodies while staying 6+ feet apart! Stand up paddle therapy was just what everyone needed this year!
Mid-summer we opened a second location at Tiki Lee’s Dockbar and offered a record 15 classes per week at our Baltimore locations. We also began operating classes in Dewey Beach, Delaware at the Hyatt Place. We introduced several new class styles over the summer:
- Floating meditation to find peace and serenity in a chaotic world
- Paddle & Flow combines land based yoga with a social paddle
- We shook our bodies to release the fear and uncertainty with Buti On Board taught by Katie M.
- Brought back Barre on Boards for an extreme balance challenge
- Sunrise FloYo to start our day on the right foot
Our staff grew to 19 teachers and coaches and we also welcomed several new instructors to our team including Katie M., CC, Beth, Karen and Jaime K. Our team put in extra hours as they showed up early and stayed after each class to ensure all boards were scrubbed clean and all surfaces were sanitized. We also hosted 3 certifications this summer: a SUP safety training as well as our SUP instructor and FloYo teacher certifications.
Our Race Training Team was stronger than ever in 2020. We ran 3 different SUP race training programs and our team crushed each and every distance workout as well as our favorite interval training days. We hosted the 4th Annual B’More SUP Cup in August thanks to Tiki Lee’s for being a fantastic venue for the race.
This summer we continued to partner with several local yoga studios, gyms and fitness instructors. These on-going partnerships included doggie paddles with Dogs of Charm City, powerful mornings on the water with The Soul Center and delicious juices with EarthShake Baltimore.
We are also grateful for new partnerships with:
- Aluma Yoga for yoga on the pier
- Esther Collinetti and her Strength, Surrender and SUP classes
- Kate Cook for fun HIIT The Water bootcamp style fitness on the pier
- Wild Kombucha for Bend and Booch events
- Maya for incredible Moon Ceremonies
We had 968 people attend a FloYo class over the course of the summer, 87 dogs got on the water for our doggie paddles, 151 people took a SUP lesson with our B’More SUP team and 254 people practiced yoga on our gorgeous pier at Hard Yacht Cafe. PLUS, we had 19 summer members in 2020 and those members came out on the water over 700 times from May through September!!! The prize for highest number of classes attended in 2020 goes to Lizette, with an incredible 81 classes under her belt.
As if these numbers alone weren’t enough to completely blow me away, there is also all that we were able to do to give back to our community. We hosted paddle fundraisers for the Bay Paddle/Oyster Recovery Partnership, Business Women’s Network, Plastic Patrol, Red Devils and Wings of Love Kuwait. We also formed a new partnership with The Chill Foundation and were able to bring some of their students out on the water for the first time.
We hosted a variety of fun special events including Primal Yoga, SUP n’ S’mores, Full Moon FloYo, a Halloween Paddle Parade and even a Holiday paddle party. We were also able to lead 4 SUP beach trips to Fenwick Island, DE. These days were filled with ocean paddles, beach yoga, sunset FloYo and so much connection and joy. And several of our members joined us for our Lake Powell and Key Largo SUP retreats.
It sure has been an incredible year, a challenging year, an unpredictable year. But, looking back we are so glad we were able to offer a space for you to come “escape” on the water, a happy place to connect with your fellow B’More SUP family, a source of joy and positivity.
Our goal at B’More SUP is to continue to build this community of paddlers, support one another, enjoy and explore Baltimore on the water and to inspire our community to live life to its fullest. We promise to create valuable programs, classes and events for you in 2021 and for many years to come.
Thank you for your support, positivity and SUP stoke!
Cheers to a very happy new year!