Margie Maccoll
Lifesaver Club of the Year for Lifesaving Excellence and Junior and Youth Development Club of the Year were among the achievements noted when Noosa Surf Lifesaving Club held its sponsorship breakfast last Friday to thank the sponsors who have made their achievements possible.
“Sponsorship is very vital for our club. It helps us continue our community programs,“ Noosa Surf Lifesaving Club life member and MC Peter French said.
Donations from sponsors had provided lifesaving equipment which was vital to bringing lifesavers up to a standard where they can rescue and revive people and vital for their nipper program which has some 600 children becoming water safe and gaining confidence in the ocean, Peter said.
Other programs included the seahorse nippers for children with disabilities and education delivered to about 2600 children in 31 schools every year. “An amazing number of children are not confident in the water,“ Peter said.
As a director of surf sports Peter was well aware of the contribution of sponsors in providing big ticket items like surf boats, which give lifesavers another avenue to perform and compete as well as assist in rescues in big surf.
Peter thanked sponsors for their donations with special mention of Tom Offermann who has been assisting the club for 30 years and Madill’s motor group who had been with the club for more than 15 years. “That’s an amazing track record and something we really do appreciate,“ he said.
Also thanked at the breakfast were new sponsors Netanya’s Glen and Danielle McKenna and Victor Danko whose donation enabled the purchase of a new surf boat valued at $40,000.
Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart also thanked sponsors for their commitment and generosity and praised the club, acknowledging the club’s awards as well as individual achievements of members this year including Jenny Glassock who was awarded Official of the Year, Steven Crisp for being Trainer of the Year and Joey Glassock for his award as U19 Lifesaver of the Year.
“You do it because you care – you care about the safety of all our members. You do it as a community service,“ she said.
Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien congratulated the club on another successful year “without losing anyone between the flags and monitoring an extensive area from North Shore to Granite Bay“.
He also praised the club for its involvement in a program in Cherbourg, a former Aboriginal mission and one of most socioeconomic challenged communities in Australia at which club members teach surf lifesaving and life skills, which was helping children there achieve higher standards.
Club president Ross Fisher paid tribute to the club’s individual achievers, the long-reaching benefits of its skilled members and the future lifesavers, represented at the breakfast by the nipper captains as well as mentioning the club’s new training facility.
This year the club named a team of six nipper captains instead of just two, so talented were the group.
“These guys have come up from U6s now SRC age 12-13. The club invests heavily in our youth. These are our future lifesavers,“ Ross said.
In relaying a recent rescue by off-duty lifesavers on North Shore in March Ross indicated the benefits of lifesaver training to the broader community and the bravery of the lifesavers themselves.
“About 6am an alarm went out that two German tourists, a son and father, had been washed out in a rip. The son managed to get ashore and raise the alarm,“ he said.
“There were two club members up there camping – Peter and Susanna Walsh. They grabbed their surfboards and went out through the surf. They had to navigate rips and uneven swells. They grabbed the father. He was in a dreadful state, panicking. They had to physically get him on the board. He had no energy at all to help himself.
“They managed to get him back to shore. They stayed with him and kept him comfortable on the beach until emergency services arrived – and he lived.“
“We just received word they are going to receive rescue medal from Surf Lifesaving Australia to be presented at the Awards of Excellence next weekend in Brisbane.“
In another act of bravery the club’s general manager Byron Mills recently apprehended an offender being chased by police and was recognised for his actions last week by police who awarded him a District Officers Certificate of Merit.
While at the club Byron saw a guy running and the police in pursuit. Without thinking of his own safety he raced after him, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down until police arrived.
“It was an amazing effort that was recognised by police,“ Ross said.
A new facility secured by the surf club is a training facility, located at Ventura Drive, Noosaville. The facility, a former tin shed, has been fitted out with state-of-the-art equipment for lifesaver training and well be available to other emergency services, Ross said.
“It’s a great step forward for the club and will be a great facility for the community,“ he said.
