From the President's Desk Greetings to all members. I trust its been a great Christmas and New Year period for everyone. There has certainly been a lot going on at the club and around our community, the time has flown by! - The club again ran a very successful Whanga week programme over the Xmas / New Year holiday period. Participant numbers were well up on last year, by over 25% which was really encouraging. Rod Marvin took on oversight of Whanga Week this year and brought the whole initiative together. Andrea, our club administrator, oversaw the registration process and we were fortunate to secure the services of Sarah Best as our on-site coordinator this year. Thanks to their help, and our event managers and volunteers, the week ran very smoothly. Ross Bradding again coordinated the annual collection on New Year's day. This is a key fundraising activity for the club, and it was really pleasing to see the number of clubbies volunteer to collect despite the poor weather that evening. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank everyone involved in Whanga week for their time and support. We have raised a significant amount of funds to assist with the annual running costs of the club, and also have a number of excellent suggestions to further improve Whanga week in the years ahead.
- It was a real delight to once again host Trevor, Jo and Jaali Hendy at our club from Jan 6-9th. Trevor and Jo facilitated a number of personal development workshops for junior members, lifeguards, parents, board/committee and associate members which were a real success and received excellent feedback. This initiative was made possible by Mr Ray Stark of FlyStark – our very own Coromandel based airline. If you or your family are looking for something unique to experience, try a FlyStark Great Barrier Island experience! I must make a special thank you note to Mark, Sharon, Paige and Matt Robinson for opening up their home to host the Hendy’s.
- The paid lifeguards continue through until Friday 2nd February under the leadership of head guard Stewart Gibson. This program has made a really significant impact on the club this summer and seen much stronger numbers of volunteer lifeguards patrolling during the weekdays during the peak period. The depth this will create for next season and beyond will ensure the club continues towards its journey of providing a world-class lifeguarding service. I want to thank the team for the hard work that has been invested – really top effort and well done.
- The Beach Hop is coming up 21-25th March and this year the club will be a real central focus of the event as “Harley-Davidson HQ”. The Beach Hop has donated over $150,000 to our club over the years and thus it is really important we show our support in kind. The 24/25th March is a patrol weekend so firstly, we need a large team of lifeguards to support the 50,000 person influx to Whangamata (this is much larger than New Years by comparison). If you can spare a day or both days to patrol, we will gladly take your support! Secondly, we need to provide volunteers for selling Beach Hop programs (Friday 23rd, 10am-2pm approx., Saturday 9:30am-2pm (main street) and Saturday 12-4pm (Williamson Park). All beach hop volunteers for program selling will receive a crew t-shirt and be invited to the volunteer thankyou function held later in the year. Please email whangaslsc@outlook.com ASAP if you can assist!
- Lastly, it was a real pleasure to host a number of our esteemed older members during Auckland Anniversary weekend on the annual ‘Fossil Patrol’. After getting everyone through the refresher without the need to produce the AED, the team went on to perform 28 rescues and a large number of minor first aid treatments during the weekend. With great weather, warm water and testing surf conditions, there were some very tired bodies by the end of the weekend! It was also really cool having a number of new lifeguards making their patrol debut alongside the Fossils – some completing their first rescues! Well done to everyone involved.
This is a very short snapshot of a couple of highlights of the past 6 weeks or so. We’ve seen some great work achieved with the junior surf and surf sports programs which will be touched later. From me, I’d just like to say thanks to everyone who invests their time and expertise into the club and makes it a truly awesome environment to be in and around. Happy surfing! Nathan Hight
From the Club Captain's Desk The club has had a stunning summer with very little action on the beach to report on. Junior surf and the team of coaches have had another successful main season with nippers and cadets reaching 100 people on one day during January. It has also been great to see many athletes getting amongst some tough training with coach Tom Lowe and manager Mark Robinson. We are looking forward to seeing their efforts rewarded at upcoming carnivals. Paid Guard The paid guard season has been a successful initiative. Taking on the program and running it alongside Eastern Region has been extremely beneficial for our club and the region. We have managed to achieve the goals that we set out to achieve and will build on the program again next season. Stewart Gibson and his team of guards have worked hard during the summer period to bring an outstanding world-class professional service to the patrons on Whangamata Beach, I for one am extremely proud of them and thank them for their efforts. New Patrol Roster The new roster will be out and starting from after anniversary weekend and will go up until Easter weekend. If you are not on it or have not filled out the google form to get your name on the roster then please do this ASAP. We are asking people to self-select their weekends/days and commit to them. It is important that we not only get our names on the roster but also turn up. Patrolling is our core service and we take great pride in obtaining a high-quality standard of lifeguarding. For the public to be safe and for fellow lifeguards on patrol to also feel safe and supported we need a strong team of guards each weekend to full fill that duty. Please help out and do your bit for the club. I look forward to seeing you all at the beach during the weekends up in till Easter, Cheers, Rachelle Bright Club Captain
Lifesaving Update A big congratulations to all of the recently qualified guards who are joining our patrol teams. Please make them feel welcome when you see them around the club and on your patrols. Patrol Roster As everyone heads back to work, uni and school, it is really important that you make sure you are able to attend your rostered patrol dates. Rash has done a great job of restructuring the patrol roster for the remaining season to work in with you all. If you cannot make your selected patrol, please let your patrol captain know and attempt to find a replacement for yourself. If you do not know many guards, please reach out to a senior who can help you with finding a replacement #whangafam Development A reminder that if you are wanting to upskill yourself in any area of lifesaving, please contact Tessa. Have a look at the lifesaving calendar and see what courses are available that you would like to attend. If you are not sure what courses are available or which course may be beneficial to attend, please email Tessa with any questions - wslscdevelopment@gmail.com Finally, a huge shout out to the Fossil Patrol who managed a massive 28 rescues over the weekend. Setting the standards high for the remaining of the season. Awesome effort team Fossil.
Junior Surf Update This has been a big week for the Junior Surf team with the final week of the full programme concluding on Friday been. By all accounts, it has been a very successful season with some great results being achieved at the Coromandel Cup as well as some fun being had. We also have some exciting news regarding gear and giveaways coming in the near future. A quick reminder that there is no Junior Surf on the 11th of February due to the ERC’s event. It is also at this time of year that we start to look forward to next season and invite people to come forward and join the Junior Surf Committee, to help us ensure we can deliver a top quality programme next year. If you are interested in joining the Junior Surf Committee please email Sam at sam.a.barclay@gmail.com
BP 50th anniversary This year SLSNZ celebrate a massive 50 years with our major partner BP which is believed to be the longest corporate partnership in New Zealand’s history- something we’re both incredibly proud of! To mark this special anniversary, BP is launching a campaign called Every Litre Counts. Between January 22 and Sunday February 18, BP will make a donation to SLSNZ from every litre of fuel sold in New Zealand and we want our membership to get behind this and encourage members, friends and family to get to BP and fuel up to thank BP for their support. To encourage clubs and members to help spread the word, we’re offering eight individual prizes of a year’s free fuel worth $5,200 ($100 per week for 52 weeks) to members that share this creatively with their networks and go the extra mile to show their support for the BP campaign. Those eight members will also win $10,000 for their club. When members are posting and sharing we want them to tag in @BPinNewZealand and @surflifesaving and @WhangamataSLSC. Please also use the hashtags too - #EveryLitreCounts #BPxSLSNZ #BPSurfRescue50 #slsnz #WeveGotTheirBacks
That's all for now, make sure you check out our new website HERE to renew your membership for the season. If there is any other club news you want to know about in the future, or you have some news you would like shared get in touch and we will make this happen. Make sure you have liked our Facebook page and followed our Instagram account @whangmataslsc, as these are going to feature information regarding club events, lifesaving updates and sports results, all summer long. Yours in Surf, Trust Waikato Whangamata SLSC |
