From the President's Desk The new season is nearly upon us with daylight savings having kicked into gear. Good time to remind our active lifeguards of the need to ensure the fitness work is underway if not already ongoing. Don’t forget its refresher time at Labour Weekend! - I attended the SLSNZ Annual General Meeting and Club President’s forum in Auckland on Saturday 23rd September. Well done to our own member Kelvin Eglinton who has been appointed to the SLSNZ Board for a three-year term. The focus of the Club president forum was to support SLSNZ with thinking to enhance decision-making ensuring we move forward as a movement in NZ. Recent decisions made have highlighted some gaps in the process which should now be addressed, ensuring the organisation makes smart decisions.
- The new membership cards have rolled out and look great. All members can pay their memberships online using credit or debit cards and simply pick up their membership card when at the club. Big thanks to our awesome administrator Andrea for taking the bull by the horns and leading this work.
- WSLSC have been actively engaging with TCDC on some recent issues that affect Williamson Park. For those not aware, TCDC is going to lodge a 15-year resource consent to run up to 30 events at Williamson Park as well as a separate resource consent which has been approved for 3 ticketed events in the park this coming summer. The Board and I are supportive of the park being used by the community however raised concerns with the mayor, CEO and local management regarding a lack of consultation with our club. As we know, these events do affect us in terms of security of our facilities, access to our clubrooms and carpark area, public safety (particularly people taking late night swims that require lifeguard intervention…!) and so on. Having considered our concerns, it is pleasing to see greater engagement between TCDC and the club on these issues.
- As mentioned at our AGM, the club this year changed its financial year end date to 30 June to better align with our seasonal activities/cycle. As a result, our first financial accounts are almost ready should any member wish to sight these. This first year they represent a 15-month financial year and are not materially different from the financial report communicated by Rod Marvin at the AGM. I’d like to acknowledge and thank Clare Gatenby for her work on this as our Director of Finance.
That’s all from me at this stage. I’m looking forward to the new season and seeing everyone at the club over the coming months. Please take note of Rachelle’s operational update and keep an eye on the clubs Facebook page and website so you know what’s going on in the club! As always, I’m open to members approaching me with any concerns or great ideas they’d like to see considered in the club. See you on the beach! Cheers all, Nathan
From the Club Captain's Desk I'm sure many of you are just like me and are gearing up for the new season. This includes locating your Whanga togs that have been buried in a bag in the back of your wardrobe for the winter months and getting back into some swim training so you are well prepared for active patrolling and the big refresher on Labour Weekend. Our committees and board of directors have been working hard during the offseason to ensure the start of our 2017/18 season is a great one! A huge thank you to all of them. Labour Weekend - This kicks off the start of our new season. Please keep an eye out on Facebook for a poster containing all events that occur over the weekend but a few key ones for you now.... Saturday 8am - Mass LG Refresher - please bring a pen for the theory and a wetsuit for the run swim run. 11am - Patrol starts. Please note* all patrols will now begin at 11am this season and run until 5pm. Patrols for the weekend will run on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. 1pm - Paid Guard Trial - Come down and see the best of the best battle it out for the top jobs at Whangamata this season. 7pm - Nibbles and drinks at the club to celebrate the opening of the new season. Sunday 9:00 - Junior Surf registrations 10am - midday - Junior Surf 1pm - 200m badge test (surf permitting) Patrol Support - Lifeguard award This new award is a key focus for me this season. The award involves sitting the theory, CPR, Radio's, Signals and first aid components of the Lifeguard award. It excludes the 400m pool swim, run-swim-run and tube rescue. The main intention for this award is to encourage senior members of the club to be involved in a lifeguard capacity that doesn't involve the physical rescuing of someone, however other components such as leadership and direction in critical situations, first aid etc. are just as important. If this award would be something you would be interested in then please give me a call on 0211898890 or rachelle.bright@hotmail.com. I wish all the lifeguards the very best of luck for your refresher at labour weekend and all those trailing for paid guard. I will, unfortunately, miss it with being overseas but will look forward to updates as the weekend progresses Kind Regards, Rachelle Bright Club Captain
Lifesaving Update This season’s patrol roster had been posted. Please make yourselves aware of the weekends you are rostered on. If you already know you cannot make these, get in touch with Maddie Daly. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you all on the beach very soon. Big thanks to Maddie for all of her work in getting these teams together. Uniform - This season all lifeguards will be able to swap their old uniform in for a brand new lifeguard shirt. Simply bring your old lifeguard shirt along with you on Labour weekend and it will be swapped out for a new one once you have completed your refresher. Upskilling - please remember that if you wish to up-skill in any area of lifesaving, get in touch with Tessa. We love helping you get on courses and see our guards continuing to develop. Don't forget that in order to be able to be registered for a course, you need to have paid your subs! Please do this asap Whanga hosted Dave Hickey’s famous Engine Maintenance Workshop last month. Clubbies from the Coromandel and as far away as raglan learnt some essential skills to give their engines a bit of tender loving care. Three of our engines have now been serviced ready for the season. Over the last couple of weeks, there have been some major changes to the layout of the first aid room. We encourage anyone involved in lifeguarding to familiarise themselves with the emergency resuscitation kits and first aid room shelving before the season commences. The Life Saving committee is continuing to work hard behind the scenes to ensure everything is ready to go for Labour weekend.
Sports Update The new sports season is just around the corner. We are looking to build on the success that we had last year with the boat crews & the junior surf squad winning multiple national titles & the juniors finishing the top club at the junior Eastern Region championships. We are pleased to announce that Tom Lowe will again be coaching the Oceans and Senior sports squads. We will also be continuing to build on the relationship that was successfully developed with Papamoa SLSC last season. We want to invite anyone that is contemplating joining one of the sports squads to talk to either Tom Lowe or Mark Robinson, the chair of the sports committee, about getting involved. Come along and give it a go. We cater to all levels and abilities. That includes you old masters. The sports season will officially kick off labour weekend with gear allocation and training getting underway. The new season's sports handbook will be out shortly which includes all the information and forms that you will need. Coach's Update With the start of the 2017/18 season just around the corner, it is time to start thinking about pre-Christmas training and carnivals. Although I understand a lot of you may be fresh off winter sports, these earlier season outings are essential to get a leg up on other clubs throughout the region. If you are a senior, junior, junior surf member, or an older adult returning this year, or wanting to get involved, please let me now. It will be great to touch base with all of you again after a long, cold and wet winter. Seniors – Mount Monster Mount Monster is New Zealand’s first big step in surf life-saving endurance racing. The Monster contains a whopping 5km run, 1.5km swim, 12km ski, and a 6km board to finish off. However, fear not! Although an individual race, it can be completed in a team of 2-4, with each member completing a leg or two. Teams can be mixed age group, boy and girl, or interclub if we are on the cusp of getting a team together. The Monster gives seniors a great target for pre-Christmas training, as nationals can feel very, very far away. It builds a level of fitness that used to be unrealistic pre-Christmas, providing an essential base in which a successful season can be built on. Personally, I do not see a reason why any senior wanting to go to nationals would not want to be involved in the Mount Monster. So, if you are a senior, please get in touch. - Tom
Junior Surf Update First off we would like to thank everyone who applied for a Junior surf coaching position this season, we had a very high number of quality applicants which made the committee's decision very difficult. Congratulations to Emily Mills and Maddie Daly who have been appointed as this year's coordinators and to Mia Turner, Kate Miller, Lucy Marvin, Jess Marvin and Katya Kimpton who will be your junior surf coaches this year. Secondly, the Junior Surf Committee is very happy to have secured funding for some brand new foam kneeboards for the upcoming season, to ensure we have plenty of high-quality equipment for our nippers to use. We can't wait to kick things off with a bang on the Sunday of Labour weekend, with junior surf registration from 9am in the Annex. Make sure to get your child's club membership paid early to make the registration process easier on the day. Memberships can be paid here.
Situations Vacant We are looking to fill two very important roles for the upcoming season. 1. WhangaWeek® Coordinator Whanga Week ® is the most important fundraising event on our calendar. We are looking for a self motivated, well-organised and confident person to work closely with and support the event organisers and our sponsors to ensure each activity runs smoothly and the success of this fantasic week continues to be built on. Read the read the full job description here. If this sounds like you please send an email to us at whangaslsc@outlook.com and include a brief history of your work experience and contact details. 2. Duty Manager Surf Club Bar We are looking for a LCQ qualified Duty Manager with at least 6 months experience to run the bar at the surf club on a casual basis over this season. 6 months experience working in the hospitality industry and references are essential. For more information please contact whangaslsc@outlook.com and include a brief history of your work experience and contact details.
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 |
