NIPPERS

Waratah Beach SLSC membership gives you access to the clubhouse, facilities & programs.

• You can use showers & toilets in the clubhouse
• You can borrow nipper boards. Rules for this are:
  • take care of boards – use sign in & out book to record use and any repairs needed;
  • ensure you only use the board size of your age group & capabilities;
  • Carry, don’t drag or drop or leave on the beach and return to board rack in clubhouse clean.

The Nipper Program aims to teach children surf safety awareness, surf skills, lifesaving skills, teamwork & limited competition skills. Nippers will learn to identify beach hazards such as rips and gain a basic knowledge of resuscitation and first aid skills. We follow the LSV Junior Development Awards for our programs.

Prior to attending nippers you will need to follow the “Steps For Enrolling Nippers” on the Nippers Page.

All Nippers every season, must complete a “Preliminary Skills Assessment” for your child. This is a prescribed swim and survival float. This is conducted on the 1st session and signed off before you participate in nippers. This assessment ensures safety of the program and enables Age Managers to run the program with confidence in the ability of each child in their group.

Please also make sure you sign up to our volunteer sheets located by clicking the “volunteer signup” button also located on the Nipper’s page.

The Waratah Beach SLSC Nippers Program is an intensive program run over the two weeks after Christmas, at Sandy Point Surf Beach. The short length of our program means that our focus is on surf education and having fun. Dates change every year depending on the dates of public holidays. Please check the Calendar located on the main page.

All age managers wear a Fluro Green Age Manager rash vest during Nippers, this will help you identify them. If you need to discuss your child’s needs or have any queries please see your Age Manager or speak to the Nippers coordinator Leah Willcock.

Be on the beach in your age group flagged off area for 9:15am. This will give you time to sign your child in and listen to the daily news/ instructions before the program begins. The nippers program runs from 9.30am – 11.30am.

The sign up sheet for parents is located on the nippers page – blue button labelled “Volunteer Sign Up” Please come and help – more hands make less work. We don’t like to force jobs on people!

Yes! You must sign your child in and out of their flagged age group area. We cannot let your child leave unless they have been signed out.

Yes! All Nippers need to be supervised during Nipper Sessions. This is a legal requirement.

The Nipper Program is for children aged 5 to 12 (U6-U13). Your child’s age group is calculated by the age they are at 30 September each year. For example, if your child is aged 10 at 30 September, they will be in under 11 age group. Age groups have colour coded feather flags to make it easier to find them on the beach.

YES! There are 200 nippers and over 200 jobs to do. All Nipper families are required to help with running the program in some way, there are a wide variety of jobs! Please see the volunteer sign-up sheet and sign up for 2 jobs. Leftover jobs will be allocated to families who do not volunteer for a job.

Nippers will run, rain or shine but if there is a chance of lightning, we won’t let the nippers into the sea!

We are a Sun Smart Club and all Nippers must:

• Arrive with Sunscreen applied
• Wear a Pink Vest when in water
• Wear a Nippers cap (blue& red club lifesaving cap)
• Bring a water bottle and towel
• Bring a wetsuit (highly recommended)

Nipper caps and pink vests are mandatory for all activities For a nipper to go in the water they must be wearing a pink vest. No vest no water activities.

A variety of club apparel is available to members, including t-shirts, hoodies and more. Nippers merchandise will be available via the Merchandise button located on the Nippers Page for pre-order, otherwise in season some will be available at the pop up stand in the BBQ Area on Nippers sessions.

The Merchandise shop is open on Nippers days located in the BBQ area on Nippers Sessions.

These are our wonderful volunteer bronze medallion holders and surf rescue certificate holders, usually aged 13+ who have given up their time to help look after the Nippers when they are in the water. They can be identified by their orange rashies. The ratios of water safety to nippers is 1:5 when the Nippers are in the water and if required, we can arrange for one to swim 1:1 with a less confident child.

To maintain safety and lifesaving standards, Surf Life Saving Australia has a set of standards of competency that Nippers must achieve before being eligible to compete in water events at carnivals. Called the S badge, Club representatives will assess the child’s swimming Proficiency during the Nippers program. Once your child obtains their S Badge their results will be entered on the Surf Life Saving Australia database and it will be valid until 31 December the following season.

Nippers will not be able to participate in water events at carnivals if they have not completed their S badge and had their result entered on the SLSA database.

No not at this stage, but we would love a volunteer to take this role up. Please contact Leah Willcock via nippers@waratahbeach.com.au if you are interested in this role.

These competitions are designed to develop lifesaving competition skills, training and competing in multiple nipper carnivals over the season. To compete, children must complete their ‘S badge.’

Participation is voluntary & will require additional training & costs outside the normal Nipper Program & travel around the state to Nipper Carnivals.

When your child turns 13, they can still be involved in Nippers and do their Surf Rescue Certificate (SRC) – the first formal step to lifesaving. If they complete their SRC they can patrol the beach.

Our Nippers go on to become active members in our club in a variety of ways, including:

• Surf Rescue Certificate, SRC (minimum age 13 years)
• Bronze Medallion (minimum age 15 years.)
• Patrolling the beach as an active patrol member.
• Helping run Nippers as either junior leaders or water safety!
• YIPS (Youth Involvement Program) once SRC has been achieved.
• U13, U15 and 18-25 Development Camps through LSV.

We are constantly looking at attracting sponsorship, fundraising and donations to cover the costs of running our club.

At Nippers level, we fundraise during our program to buy our equipment, e.g. Boards cost $500 – $1200 each. Nipper parents contribute significantly to the club finances in a wide variety of creative ways, ranging from becoming Major Sponsors through to donating boards or volunteering in club fundraising events.

At a club level we actively look for sponsorship, fundraising and donations to sustain and develop the club. If you can help in any way big or small, it is appreciated.