Did you miss it? You can watch this online discussion, and many others, on the club’s youtube channel HERE.
One bad experience can ruin paddling forever for someone. Even good paddlers struggle to teach their kids (or their friends) how to paddle without scaring or discouraging them. Once you do manage to get them into the sport, how do you keep them interested in going boating rather than staring at their screens?
Paul Kuthe has been paddling since he was a young boy and these days his life has come full circle. Paul is teaching his own two boys, Canyon (7) and Cedar (4), to paddle. As the former Program Director and kids camp director at Alder Creek, he’s uniquely positioned to do so. Paul and his wife Kate also have their home right on the Washougal river, so the family is literally playing in their backyard when they are on the water (which helps).
In this online talk, Paul will share thoughts on his experience teaching thousands of students as well as Canyon and Cedar to paddle. He'll discuss barriers to learning we all experience and strategies that you might use with your own children, grandchildren or paddling friends. If we’re lucky we might get to hear from the boys to see if they have any thoughts on the topic!
Paul is proud to represent Kokatat, Pyranha, P&H Sea Kayaks, and Werner Paddles as a sponsored athlete. For Paul’s complete and very impressive bio, see below.
Paul and son Canyon about to launch on the Washougal River.
Paul Kuthe started his paddling career as many before him have: cruising down the river with his father in a Grumman Canoe. It didn’t take long before he and his dad discovered kayaks. Realizing he was losing his bow partner, Paul’s father never looked back and bought two Perception Dancers. Paul and his father took their first whitewater class, and for the next couple years, paddled Class III and IV rivers both in their home state of Missouri and all over the East. As a kid, Paul always felt an equal on the water, crediting paddling with bolstering motivation, self-esteem, and maturity all while keeping him too busy to cause much trouble.
Paul’s first day kayaking.
Tragically, at the tender age of 12, Paul lost his father to a heart attack on the Arkansas River in Colorado. Teaching kayak classes and going on trips with the Missouri Whitewater Association became both a necessary outlet for teen angst, and an amazing opportunity to start a professional coaching career at an uncommonly young age.
Paul came to Alder Creek in 2004 at age 20 as an ACA certified whitewater instructor and worked his way up to the busy job of Program Director. Soon after moving to Oregon he was making appearances in numerous film projects taking him to the very brink of what can be done in a sea kayak for National Geographic. He was asked back time after time as a guest coach at the top international symposiums in the years to follow. Paul served as a Marine Technical Advisor to Paramount Pictures and made appearances in national television ad campaigns for companies like Keen Footwear and Tampax.
He and his wife Kate starred in the award winning documentary film, “Voyagers Without Trace.” They both helped create and starred in a widely viewed video safety series produced by the USCG and the ACA. He even worked a day on the set of the popular TV show ‘Portlandia’ personally coaching actor Fred Armisen and serving as an expert consultant! Despite the long list of accomplishments, Paul’s most proud of his volunteer efforts spent cleaning his local rivers and fighting for access to clean water, even gracing the pages of the NY Times in defense of free flowing rivers.
It was during the adventures above that he learned the importance of coaching, commitment, and operating in the moment with intense focus and determination while simultaneously managing fear and self-doubt. The natural world, like the business world, can be one of life’s greatest teachers if you ‘attend class’ on a regular basis.
Paul, now a proud father of two boys, spends many of his paddling days on quieter waters handing down the skills and life lessons paddling brought him as a boy. He still enjoys dropping tall waterfalls and surfing through deep sea caves. Coaching paddlers on the water is something he will always do. At present … he gets to do it mostly for fun!
Paul launched his own performance coaching organization called Tributary Coaching LLC to bring his knowledge, coaching skills, and the techniques of elite level athletes to the business world, creating positive change in the lives of professionals striving for the same sort of success and happiness.
Paul is a Storybrand Certified Marketing Guide, Business Made Simple Certified Coach, TetraKey qualified Lead Trainer with over two decades of coaching and training experience and a best selling author. For more information email Paul@tributarycoaching.com