Welcome to the Macksville-Scotts Head SLSC 2024/25 Nippers Season
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What is Nippers?
Surf Life Saving is an amazing activity for growing a child’s confidence, knowledge, and skills in the beach environment. Your Macksville-Scotts Head Nipper will have fun, meet new friends and be part of an awesome club where everyone is valued and supported.
Open to children aged 5-13 years, the aim of our Nippers Program is to build confidence and encourage young lifesavers of the future.
Nippers will develop many skills including surf awareness, learn all about beach events, surf rescues, first aid, problem solving, teamwork, marine environmental awareness and most importantly; have a bucket load of fun!
Age groups from U8’s to U14’s will have the opportunity to use the skills learnt to represent the club at the Mid North Coast Branch Carnivals competing against other clubs such as Tacking Point, South-West Rocks, Kempsey-Crescent Head & Port Macquarie. It’s a great day meeting kids from other clubs, competing, having fun, and making new friends.
When does Nippers happen?
Nippers is held on Sundays (2024/25 Calendar is available), we try to have at least one weekend off a month. And time off over the busy Christmas/New Years period, when lots of families are away and the beach is too busy on a Sunday to hold Nippers.
9am meet up at the clubhouse for a 9:30 start on the beach.
Meet up with your Age Manager to get your name marked off and find out what activity you’ll be doing first.
If you arrive late, please ensure the Age Manager records your child’s attendance. Nippers must also inform their Age Manager before leaving or to continue swimming at the beach.
Please note: A carer must remain on the beach at all times with their child during nippers.
What do we wear?
Club caps and pink rash vests must be worn for all water activities during Nippers.
You will receive them once you have signed up online, paid registration for the Nipper and Parent and have done the pool & beach proficiency.
Green caps for U6s and U7s
Blue/white/red club caps for all U8s to U14s
This is a strict Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) requirement to ensure nipper safety.
We are all about being sun safe so please come beach ready, swimmers on and make sure sunscreen is applied and you have a water bottle.
The Age Managers will have a tub to store the water bottles in for a drink break & extra sunscreen to re-apply when needed.
And at the end?
We try to finish up by 11:30, before it gets too hot in the sun. And the younger one’s loose interest and get too tired.
Many hands make light work, so getting everyone to help pack the beach up bringing all the flags, toys, boards etc back to the shed at the clubhouse; and have them stored away for next time is a great help and promotes teamwork.
Back at the clubhouse the Age Manager will ask all Nippers to remove their caps, to indicate that Nippers has finished and will mark their name off as their Parents/Guardians collect them.
DON’T FORGET TO COLLECT YOUR WATERBOTTLES TOO!!!
It is important that all children have their name signed in and out by a parent and you take them in to your care. This ensures a safe environment for all.
Depending on what’s been happening we sometimes have a sausage sizzle BBQ and if everyone’s been well behaved a Zooper Dooper.
We do our best to adhere to the time schedule on Sunday mornings, however surf and weather conditions do have an effect sometimes. If conditions are poor, we organise alternative activities such as sand events or surf education, or even at worst cancel nippers for that day via Facebook post, email or SMS and if you have joined the Nippers Parents WhatsApp Chat Group.
Branch Carnivals
As we are part of the Mid North Coast Branch, we take Nippers that wish to compete to the carnivals and represent the club in a few different events both on the sand and in the water. Depending on their age group they can compete in the following events:
| Beach Sprint | Wade Relay | Board Relay |
| Beach Relay | Run-Swim-Run | Board Rescue |
| Beach Flags | Surf Race | Ironman/Ironwoman |
| Wade Race | Board | Cameron Relay |
Age Groups
Listed below are the age groups members will be in for the 2024/2025 season. These age groups are determined as at midnight on 30 September 2024.
Proof of age/birth certificate must be sighted for all new children joining.
A child may join a SLSC as soon as he/she turns five years of age. No SLSC is to accept membership of a child until they have reached the age of 5yrs to comply with insurance requirements.
A child who turns five years of age after 30th September may join Nippers at that time; however, this child will be required to stay in the U/6 Nippers age group again the following season.
It is MANDATORY that at least one parent/guardian from each family join MSH SLSC either as a Nipper Parent member also.
How much does it cost?
New Members:
• $60 – Nippers (5-13yrs old)
• $40 – Nipper Parent
Renewal Members:
• $30 – Nippers (5-13yrs old)
• $20 – Nipper Parent
How do you get started?
Go to https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/nippers/ to find out more information about Nippers from the Surf Life Saving NSW website.
NEW MEMBERS:
Go to https://members.sls.com.au/members/join/member-join to create your account and sign up. (See cheat sheet to help)
Returning Nippers can renew their membership using their members login on the Surf Life Saving Website:
https://members.sls.com.au/SLSA_Online/modules/login/index.ph p
Want to get involved?
During the season we encourage all parents/guardians to get involved, there a few jobs that we love having help with:
- Age Managers (helps to have more than one for each age group)
- Timekeepers & scorers
- Help cooking the BBQ
- Washing down and getting the sand off the boards, before packing them away in the shed
- Cheering the kids on with encouragement
- Water Safety (must have a current Bronze Medallion or SRC)
Doesn’t matter if you’ve never done it before, we have plenty of other parents that are willing to help you have fun and enjoy Nippers as much as your kids will.
If you have any further questions please feel free to send an email to admin@macksvillescottsheadslsc.com or call Dereck Patton on 0403 679 320
And don’t forget to join our Nipper Parents WhatsApp Chat to keep informed about everything happening this season.