The roots of SUPStick go way back. From an early age, our founder Joel Brennan grew up paddling and skateboarding in Canada’s Yukon Territory. As a teen, he was active in competitive kayaking, downhill biking and other extreme sports. Joel attended high school at Lakefield College in Peterborough, Ontario and due to its proximity to the Ottawa River, considered the “mecca” for whitewater paddling, it became the perfect training ground for Joel’s kayaking and stand up paddleboarding career.
He went on to teach at Liquid Skills Kayak & SUP School for two seasons and had the ultimate honour of representing Canada at the 2011 Whitewater Kayak Freestyle World Championships in Germany.
In addition to sports, another long-term goal of Joel’s was to become an inventor and an entrepreneur. A move back to the Yukon in 2015 allowed him to follow his dreams and combine these two passions. That’s when Joel began developing his design for the ultimate land paddle. After five years of research and testing, SUPStick is now ready!
After trying products from other manufacturers, Joel ended up with shoulder pain due to the rigidity of the straight-shafted land paddle interacting with the ground beneath. He sums up the experience: “It was uncomfortable and not very enjoyable. It didn’t feel like you’re really paddling on the water. I believed I could engineer something better.”
And thus, Joel’s unique vision for creating the SUPStick (now patented in both Canada and the US) was born. Whether you’re a beginner or expert land paddler, the SUPStick is the right product at the right time. One of the world’s fastest-growing sports, paddleboarding is poised for inclusion as an Olympic sport in the 2028 Games. SUPStick is the perfect tool to take your training to the next level.