Team Napu is an outrigger paddling team that is looking to put the sport of paddling back on the map here on Guam. For decades, outrigger paddling has been a popular venture on the island for those looking to participate in water sports. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought major setbacks in terms of the sports growth in the community.

Head coach of team Napu, Josh Duenas, is looking to bring paddling back into the limelight, in order to hopefully make the sport bigger than it was, even before the pandemic. “Before the pandemic, the sport was definitely gaining some traction with regards to its growth,” he says. “Things definitely took a turn for the worse when COVID hit.”

Today, the sport of paddling is experiencing what some may call a resurgence, and much of the growing popularity can be credited team Napu and Coach Josh.

“I am always willing to teach people about our sport, especially those who have never tried it before,” says Coach Josh. “I always tell my paddlers that if anybody they know is interested in learning, bring them on down and we can definitely have them hop on the canoe.”                

For the past couple of months, team Napu has been slowly recruiting novice paddlers into the team. They have also been hosting paddling clinics and outrigger paddling races, all because they have a vision that the sport can be as big as it once was.

Team Napu is still a young team. They were founded during the midst of the pandemic back in 2020, but as of right now, they are one of the largest and most active outrigger paddling teams on the island.

Melfred James, also known as “Melo”, is one of the more experienced paddlers on team Napu. He has been paddling for almost 10 years, and he believes that it is certainly possible paddling can be a sport that everyone wants to do. “The sport is definitely something that can be as big as the other sports here, like basketball and soccer,” he says. “Just look at the high school paddling season, every year there are hundreds of kids that sign up to paddle, and all of them come down to the beach every day to practice, and they are always enjoying themselves and having a good time.”

One of the ways team Napu wants to bring more awareness and attention to the sport is by bringing back the “neni division”. In the past, paddling teams had kids and teen programs that focused on training young paddlers, ages anywhere from 5 to 14 years old. During races, the young paddlers would compete against each other, and it was known as the neni division. Melo believes that starting with the youth is the best way to get more people involved with the sport. “I myself started in the neni division way back, and I think it’s kind of sad that we as a community haven’t continued the tradition of providing the future generation of paddlers a way to practice and compete against each other,” he says. “Coach Josh wants to start the neni program back up again, and you know what, I’m all for it, he’s got my support.”

Paddling teams on Guam have been slowly getting back into the swing of things. Every day, different teams can be seen practicing in Tumon or Paseo, and the future looks bright for the sport.

“We definitely got a long way to go, especially if we want the sport to be as big as it is in places like Hawaii, New Zealand, or even California,” says Coach Josh. “It’s definitely an intimidating task, but I’m up for it, cause I know this sport has a lot to offer the people of Guam, and I know my team is up for it as well.”