By RON LANE
FOR those involved with the running of this season’s Noosa Seahorse Nippers, the organisation that caters for children with special needs, their season started on Wednesday 3 September in the committee room of the Noosa Surf Club. Chaired by Steve Mawby the director, two meetings were held. The first at 5pm was for the carers and the second at 6pm was for the helpers.
The group referred to as the carers, are those qualified lifesavers who take the responsibility of working one-on-one with a child. This ensures that they receive the utmost care and consideration. If necessary, two carers can be appointed to work with one child.
After thanking all the volunteers and outlining the program, Mawby emphasized one of the most important directives of all. “You must remember to give plenty of encouragement, and above all lots of big smiles and high fives.
For the actual activities, the children would be broken up into three groups, the Pinks, Reds and the Green/Orange. Once the groups were settled, they would then be directed to three sectors. For beach events, they was beach flags, the parachute game and tunnel relays. On entering the water, and here the supervision was very intense, the three categories were kayaks, wading and nipper body boarding.
Then by 9.30am on Saturday, the Seahorse Nippers were registered, the surf conditions on Main Beach perfect, and the season was under way. During the morning, there are those children who for some reason don’t feel inclined to participate. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see their carer just sit on the water’s edge with them using small buckets and spades, to dig holes or build sand castles. The ability to communicate with these special nippers is of the utmost importance and sometimes patience is the key factor. Another thing that is emphasised is to remember that every child is different.
A very encouraging sign for the future was that including Noosa the host club, there were seven clubs represented; Sunshine Beach, Peregian, Marcoola ,Northcliffe, North Burleigh and Coolangatta. Most came to look and learn. One of the representatives from North Burleigh Alena Smith said, “This is a great concept and we are following Noosa’s lead. We are working on a pilot program and hope that it will be activated by October. We feel other clubs close by will help and we will soon have our own committee.”
From the Coolangatta club, Christine and Stewart Marshall said, “Our Youth Development officer will put a program together and we will then be consulting with Noosa.
At the close of day, there were 40 children and 50 carers in attendance and also two Smart Pups. These dogs were bought along by parents and have now become a vital part in the lives of some families. In thanking the carers and workforce, Steve Mawby said, “This effort shows a strong culture within the club and if we can maintain this, we can only get stronger.”
On Sunday afternoon, the Noosa Surf Club involved itself in yet another youth program when they played host to the All Star Show Band. This band, which was sponsored by Shake-It-Up Music, played a variety of jazz numbers. The band consisted of 22 students from schools all over the coast and was well received by a large crowd.
“This event is in keeping with our policy of supporting local youth. Other projects are also being considered,” club manager Anton Mogg said.
Noosa club was saddened to hear of the passing of Life Member Ron Dowdle. Ron a master body surfer will be missed by his club mates.
