“Bratstvo” Kayak Club Kanjiža Serbia

A piece of kayak history in the making…since 1968…

The history of kayaking in Kanjiža dates back to 1968, unofficially it had started one or two years earlier when a young man from Kanjiža, Nikola Rakić, paddled a kayak made in Zemun along the Tisza in Kanjiža, almost at the same time a young man from Senta, married in Kanjiža, brought a narrow boat with impregnated canvas cover and a wooden hull and sailed it along the Tisza in Kanjiža. The young man’s name was Károly Dluhi. The beginnings of kayaking in Kanjiža are linked to his name. In 1968, the kayak club was founded in the premises given to him by the local sport fishermen. Everything started taking the smallest steps, with poorly made wooden boxes for storing kayaks, a few canvas-covered boats made of orange crates and a few bright-eyed children. Later, Károly started making plastic kayaks, which improved the conditions in the club and led to the first major sporting successes. His successor, Imre Szecsei, contributed to this with many years of persistent and dedicated work. In the early 70s the association established contact with the kayak club in Szarvas, Hungary. The first time they paddled down to Kanjiža was in 1972 with the hard core of the competitors of that time, The relationship has been ongoing ever since, and many friendships have been formed between the competitors and leaders of the two clubs in the past decades.

To mention just a few facts from the recent history of the club: the construction of the kayak house on the banks of the Tisza, with boat storage, training rooms, changing rooms and all the necessary equipment was a pivotal moment in the life of the club. With this, a long-standing dream of the club’s members has come true. The club is located on one of the most beautiful waterways in Serbia, and kayaking is dealt with on a 30-metre-long three-element pier, having a ground-floor and upstairs boat storage, for motorboats, boat trailers as well, with barbecue facilities, a storehouse for around 90 kayaks, a gym, all this in a green and well-kept environment.

In the second half of the 2000s, due to tight financial conditions, investments almost stopped. In 2015, new plans and ideas were born, followed by short term actions. The Municipality of Kanjiža, the Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth and the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Serbia committed themselves to building a training and education centre for coaches and referees. The works and the project will be carried out in several phases, i.e. it will be completed or built depending on the financial possibilities.

Also in 2015, the association received a large and modern pier system thanks to the project Across the Tisa, a successfully implemented Hungary-Serbia IPA CBC project of the municipality of Kanjiža.

Nowadays, it can be said that there are regular trainings with about 60-70 competitors under the guidance of two coaches. The traditional summer kayak school is run by additional coaches and former athletes. Our teams regularly participate in all national and some foreign competitions. Every year the club organizes the Kanjiža Regatta, which is a regatta with a large number of participants and a high level of organization.

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