The season is well under way now so it’s time to update everyone with the various aspects of the Clubs activities.

We now have about 108 registered patrolling members including our most recent Bronze and Surf Rescue Certificate crew. This is the strongest patrolling numbers we have seen and it’s great to see new members gaining their qualifications including a good mixture of ex Nippers, Nipper parents and many others who are new to Surf Life Saving.

There have been some minor changes to the patrol roster in recent weeks to even up the numbers, so we’ve attached an updated Roster to print up if you haven’t already received it.

A reminder to patrolling members to organise a replacement and let your Patrol Captain know if you can’t make your patrol.

Another Bronze Medallion and Surf Rescue Certificate squad is due to kick off on Sunday 31st January at 9:00 am. This is earlier in the day than the last squad and will be at the same time as Nippers. If your interested in doing either the Bronze or SRC contact Chief Trainer Lloyd Smith on 0412 970 836 or Gaye Adlington on 0410 553 955 for more info.

Other shorter courses including Advanced Resuscitation and IRB/Driver and crewman’s will be organized shortly and information will go out on the email with dates and times

We’ve had some excellent days at Nippers this year, with mostly good weather and conditions ranging from slight to “challenging”. This year there are about 165 registered Nippers, many who have had their first experience at a Carnival. About 40 of our Nippers went to the Gerringong Carnival and about 70 participated at our own carnival on Warrain Beach.

There were some great results at the carnivals, with a special highlight being the seven all age relays teams that were entered by Nowra-Culburra at our carnival.

A reminder the South Coast Branch Championships will be held at Warilla Beach on Sunday 7th February, starting at 8.00am for Juniors (U8’s up) and 2pm for Seniors, and again we encourage as many as possible to compete.

We are seeing some great progress with the Nippers this year, with noticeable improvement in water and surf skills, and the continuation of the Junior Development Program having all compulsory units completed by 31 December.

A big thank you to the many helpers at Nippers each week. There are usually about 15 to 20 who do water safety, a dozen or so looking after the canteen and barbeque, and most importantly the 17 Age Managers. It’s a big effort every Sunday but one that is worthwhile.

This last weekend we had a very successful visit from the Eloura SLSC Under 14’s, who participated in patrols and Nippers, as well as conducting their own board training. They have invited us up to their club to participate in Nippers and patrols, which will be a great chance for our kids to experience a Sydney beach.

Fundraising

The club relies on extensive fund raising throughout the year and a big thank you to all involved. We have had several successful fundraising days this year including the meat raffle at Huskisson in December (thanks to the Mearns family and Brenda Van Heuzen).

Later we will be having the annual door knock at Culburra (4th April), a meat raffle at the Crookhaven Heads Caravan Park (Easter) and the barbeque for the Power FM sand castle building competition (Australia Day). We need helpers for these so if you’re available please contact Rodger Mearns on 4447 2425 or Mitchell Pakes on 0432 557 516.

The Chocolate Box sales by the Nipper families have also been quite successful. If you have any outstanding money from these could you please return it to the canteen. Feel free to pick up another box to sell, we need to move the total stock by the end of season!!!

One of our biggest fund raising days is the annual Golf Day which will be held at Worrigee on Friday 19th February. If you’re interested in putting a group of three together or even sponsoring a hole, contact Rodger Mearns on 4447 2425.

We have been extremely fortunate this year with the donation at the start of the season of ten new Nipper “foamies” thanks to Liam and Marie Guilfoyle. More recently we have taken delivery of two new racing Mals for the Under 14s and seniors, thanks to an extremely generous donation by Marc Zobec and Corinne Le-Gall. These boards have been designed and built to suit our local conditions and membership by local manufacturer “Perpetual Motion” who has also donated another board for good measure.

We greatly appreciate the support of our other sponsors including: