How Hong Kong’s all-female Renegades dragon-boating team is making waves
The Renegades thrive on camaraderie and ambition, and is staking a claim to the podiums all across the region
Roberta Di Fazio Camilleri knows the importance of having single-gendered teams in sport – especially for women.
The founder and captain of the successful all-female dragon-boat team the Renegades did not find her tribe by mistake, but by recognising what was missing in the sport. “My friends and I wanted to race competitively at Stanley. We’d met in a team that was more concerned with the social side of things than podium finishes and, over time, we’d become more ambitious,” she says.
“We looked to join one of the other mixed teams to begin with, but the training schedules tended to be very early weekday mornings or on Saturdays. As mothers, it meant none of us could commit to them in the way we wanted to.” Necessity being the mother of invention – particularly among these mothers – Di Fazio Camilleri decided to start her own team.
All in all, nine women left the team that day in 2018 to follow Di Fazio Camilleri into something new, with the goal of becoming a high-achieving unit. Some, like Joanna Baker, the team’s coach and deputy chief, have been a Renegades mainstay since the start.
“People don’t tend to leave the Renegades,” Baker says. “Unless they’re returning to their home countries – they don’t leave us for other teams in Hong Kong.”
Even for our conversation, Di Fazio Camilleri’s resolve and application is palpable. She is fresh off the water and responding to messages from her son, currently studying for his exams, and her coach.