By Ron Lane
I think that it is only right that this week we should start off our column by sending a big cheerio call to two of our club mates who we could say, have seen better times.
With ladies first, we have Noosa’s Iron woman Jordy Mercer, who this week will undergo surgery for a stress factor.
This injury will probably keep her high and dry for the remainder of the season.
However with her determination and fighting spirit we know her recovery will be complete; and with her dad and coach Darren holding the reins we know it will be properly supervised.
Our other call goes to Sunshine’s Surf Sports Director Dan Moore. Dan, or “Mr Lucky” to be more precise, while holidaying in Bali was hit by a bull shark while board riding.
After taking a sample of the meat on Dan’s right arm plus a few whacks around the head, the shark let go and Dan was able to make it to the beach.
All indications are that following surgery to the arm, his recovery will be successful; in an interview he said the experience will not keep him out of the water.
Two of our people who in their chosen field are amongst the best. To Jordy and Dan we wish them a speedy recovery and to their families, if need arises your club mates are just a phone call away.
When we take into consideration the fact that two of our major organisations, Surf Life Saving Australia and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have four major virtues in common – teamwork, courage, loyalty and initiative – it is only common sense a training program that centres around our young (14 and 15 year olds) could be of major benefit to the future of life saving.
Happy to relate that for the last ten seasons this is exactly what has been happening.
Under the name of Camp Commando, this age group has been attending an annual Sunshine Coast Youth Development Program that has all participants put through their paces by Australian Defence Force personnel.
Held at the Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre Currimundi on Monday 9 January and attended by over 100 young lifesavers, it was yet again an outstanding success.
“The activities the Defence Force personnel ran for our members certainly challenged them and this form of training helps prepare them for tricky situations they may face on our beaches,” spokesman Jacob Thomson said.
Amongst those in attendance were members of Sunshine and Noosa and in the words of Sunshine president Craig Law, “Our young ones said it was a great experience and you could see it has made them more confident.”
From Noosa, Archie Glassock, himself a former member of a Noosa group and now a member of the training support team said, “This year they had a few changes to the program and it was really first class; really gives everyone more self-confidence.
“With our roving patrols and our 24-hour call out teams now a major part of our structure, the cross training system between the ADF and us is invaluable. With the two named groups often finding themselves in isolated areas, every bit of training counts. The old saying that ‘Knowledge is Power’ is for our lifesavers different; in our business – Knowledge is Life.”
Last weekend saw Sunshine Coast Branch Surf Rescue Titles get underway.
Once again Sunshine Beach has performed well in the blue ribbon Patrol Competition events winning gold in the Under 17 and silver in the Under 15.
In the often unheralded First Aid competition Noosa’s legendary medal winner and coach Lenore Grice said, “Noosa’s young team performed well coming home with several medals. It is good to see the young ones doing the first aid; it makes them understand just how important this side of lifesaving really is.”
