I recently received a flyer from the newly appointed Director of Surf Sports Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club, Peter Borain. In it he informed us of the plans he has in place for the season ahead: a good indicator and very positive. A major announcement was the introduction of two highly credentialed coaches, Mike Janes and Sharlene Kelly, as coaches in the Surf Sports program for the remainder of the season.
Mike Janes is a former Nutri-Grain Athlete, New Zealand Athlete and elite-level Pool and Surf Coach. He will be working with our youth to open athletics across all aspects. He has served as the High- Performance Coach at Mermaid Beach SLSC for 10 years and has an extensive resume in club, state and international coaching across multiple countries.
Sharlene Kelly will lead our ski program primarily working with our U17 to Open Athletes, along with advanced Masters paddlers. Sharlene is the Queensland Academy of Sport Kayak Coach, a National Team Coach and Coaching Advisor. She is highly respected within the State, National Kaya and Ski Communities, and has coached high- level surf lifesaving in the Nutri-Grain Series.
We are excited to have Mike and Sharlene on board as they bring a wealth of experience and expertise that will enhance our training sessions and support the development of our athletes. Please join me in welcoming Mike and Sharlene to the team. We look forward to the positive impact they will make on our training and the overall success of our Surf Sports Program
Noosa Boats.
Saturday saw three of our boat crews from Noosa, take part in Round 2 of the ASRLQ Youth and Masters carnival at Kings Beach Caloundra: another great event sponsored by Megabeam. Our U19 girls the Roadrunners came away with 2nd place, rowing in a division in the U23s. The Masters crew the Condors, came 4th in their division narrowly missing out on the podium.
Lastly, our brand-new Junior boys crew the Tuti’s made it around the cans and back every time, and on one occasion picking up the wave of the day, trailing early and taking it all the way to the beach. It is things such as this that tell our sweeps that the young are showing promise: and good things for the future.
It is always good to see that the boat section has a good number of crews as rowing is a full-on team sport, thus being beneficial to consolidation of the club. This, plus the fact that they continue to uphold a club tradition that started way back in 1949.
Noosa Outriggers.
From our man in the Outriggers Club Colin Jones, he brings us up to date on a big day of Outrigger Canoe Racing, last weekend at Noosa. At one point there were 34 boats each with 6 paddlers on board, in a spectacular race down the river. Noosa took gold in this race the Golden Masters Women’s Division, Novices and Golden Masters Unlimited. Next was the Novice Men’s racing with Team Hoani taking gold, as well as our Senior Masters Men’s Unlimited Crew.
In the women’s Long Course Racing, Team Hegarty took gold in the open Women’s division and Team Chae took silver in the Senior Masters Women. The last race of the day was the Men’s Long Course. Noosa team took gold in the Golden Masters Men, Masters Men, Platinum Unlimited and Senior Masters Men Unlimited. Congratulations to all participants: we also had 20 Noosa Juniors competing,1xU12 boys (plus Holly) as a team ‘Noosa Boyz’ winning their division, with Bodo steering, 2x U12 girls- our older bunch in their school group from Peregian Beach College, ‘Team PBC’ coming 1st and our younger U12s as ‘Noosa Gurlz’, with Frankie steering coming 2nd. With both teams showing so much focus it was a pleasure for Bodo, Frankie and Flea to steer, albeit a challenging race, with such windy conditions.
Our U16 crew had a great race in the lightweight crew, and I was impressed with how well they all handled their start in messy conditions.”
Between the Flags.
Just recently two members of Noosa, Club Captain Roger Aspinall and Joe Cirello were sent as representatives of Queensland State Centre, to Tasmania to attend special training in Swift Water Response Course. Regarding the course, Club Captain Roger Aspinall said, “For Queensland, we were represented by 11 members from all over Queensland: Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Townsville.
The concept came about because of the 2022 floods that caused havoc in major areas of northern NSW: and following this NSW became tasked to assist in flood emergencies, thus the formation of the Surf Water Responder Course. This qualifies us to work in No Flow or Slow Water, and do welfare checks for those stranded on roofs, buildings or whatever, using paddle craft or IRB (Inflatable Rescue Boat). Our major task was to be a support group for the leading teams.”
For those of you who are not familiar with the duties of our Emergency Response Group and the State Body, one only must watch the evening news, during the times of the now constant massive flooding, to become fully aware of their duties and responsibilities. One should never forget, that when the heavens open and the rivers run wild and dangerous, these teams are all on 24-hour call out. To our lifesavers from the various clubs throughout the state, who volunteer for this work we extend our sincere thanks.
Trivia.
It maybe, just a bit of trivia, but if we stop and digest what has been said regarding certain sports, there is certainly food for thought. In Australia at present perhaps two of the fastest growing sports are Pickleball and Martial Arts: and believe it or not, despite their activity being poles apart, they both contribute to the community, common virtues.
Both can start at the early age of 6 or 7 yrs, ( go through to 80), and both teach self-discipline, teamwork and above all, respect for others: and keeps our youth away from the streets, where violence is ever present. Regarding the martial arts, any young man who is properly taught the arts, would never grow up to be a thug. The importance of our youth in sport cannot be emphasized enough.
