62nd Annual Report 2012/2013 - Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club

Starfish Nippers
Special needs nippers at Anglesea celebrated
their second year of the program this season.
There were all smiles and tears of pride as the
starfish nippers received their well-deserved
trophies for participating in the nipper program.
This year seven participants took part in a
modified nipper program involving beach and
water activities such as beach flags, swimming,
board skills, water and surf safety.
Eleven trainers assisted in the program, ensuring
there was quality training, water and beach
safety.
Our new specially-designed nipper boards
made a big difference to the nipper’s confidence
in the water and helped to develop their skills
on the board. A sincere thanks to the Anglesea
Surf Life Saving Foundation for financing these
boards this year.
The program has not only built the nippers
confidence and skills in the water but also
created nipper friendships, networks for parents
and a sense of community and acceptance
within the Anglesea club. Thank you to everyone
at the club for their enormous support and
encouragement and a special thanks to Dave
Kay, Peter Williams and Di Feudoloff.
In the future we hope all lifesaving clubs will
consider running similar specialised programs.
To this end, Anglesea received a grant from the
State Trustees for $5000 to make a promotional
DVD to send to other SLSC’s around Australia.
To make this video, Jake Foster filmed the
program over the summer and went beyond
the call of duty to create a website so it can
be viewed globally. We were also very grateful
to Jake for creating special video links for
the media, which were used by SBSTV for
a story on World News Australia in January.
The story and the promotional videos can all
be viewed on the starfish nippers website:
www.starfishnippers.com.au.
Thanks too to all the starfish team (including
the amazing supportive parents) - this program
could not have run without you all. My trainers
included a great group of young enthusiastic
adults: Matt Mullins, Greta Dickson, Matilda
Cameron, Amelia Kelly, Clara Toohey and
Charlie Fry. Then there were my slightly older,
but still passionate trainers: Bronwan Cameron,
Win Brown, Liz Fry and Jenene Kelly. These
wonderful volunteers were not only fantastic
trainers, but were also role models to the
nippers as well as friends and mentors.
To the stars of the program: Jeremy, Anna, Chris,
Sienna, Jared, Walter and Liam – congratulations!
You have improved so much with your skills on
and off the beach, always tried your best and
kept smiling. We’re looking forward to seeing
you next season.
Janet Jones
Starfish Nipper Co-ordinator
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Anglesea SLSC Annual Report 2012/13