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MANLY LSC

I do look forward to continuing to contribute to the Club and seeing you on the beach. Mark Epper

We do many things well. For instance:

The Anzac Day service, held on the sand, was attended by some 200 people. We heard from Club member Jacquie Costello and we honoured those Club members who gave their lives in World War 1 and the Second World War. It was great to share the service with our friends from the Manly Surf Club.

It was fitting that on Anzac Day the beach was being kept safe by Patrol 3. Earlier in the year Michelle Kay and Nigel Kassulke, from Patrol 3, assisted in a lifesaving rescue after hours and were awarded the National Rescue of the Month.

Our Patrol members do not serve to win awards, but this is an extreme honour and something we should all be proud of.

It is a little less hectic on Sunday mornings at the Club now as Nippers have completed another very successful season. Winning the State championship for the seventh year in a row is an outstanding achievement, but equally outstanding and more important is the surf skills development and confidence in the water that most Nippers gain during the season.

In addition to educating our Nippers, our life saving education programs for all members is something we should be very proud of. Manly Life Saving Club is one of the largest educators of Surf Life Saving awards in the country and we are fortunate to have a very dedicated group of Trainers and Assessors.

Competition remains a core activity of the Club. I was fortunate to witness the Open competitors achieve a credible seventh at Aussies and it’s rewarding that we now have competitors performing well in most age groups and genders across most surf disciplines.

This followed Manly winning the combined State Championship (Juniors, Opens and Masters) and, as I mentioned above, the Nippers winning their seventh State title in succession.

Much of what we do is not possible without the assistance of people like our Office Staff, Manly Council Lifeguards, Manly Council, North Steyne and Queenscliff Surf Clubs, Sydney Northern Beaches Branch and our Sponsors. We enjoy good working relations with all these groups.

I am stepping down as President after three years. It has been an honour to lead the Club during this time and I am extremely grateful for all the assistance I have received. In particular, great thanks to the Board who work tirelessly, often behind the scenes, making us the great Club that we are and to all those members who often go out of their way to keep things ticking over.

Another season has gone and we again achieved our aim of ensuring Manly beach is a safe place to swim, prevent the loss of life and develop and educate our youth.

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NORTH STEYNE SLSC

We appreciate the willingness to work together and help from both Queenscliff SLSC and Manly LSC. I personally thank our Directors, Assistant Directors, Life Members, members and Audrey Brien who, in their own way, made it happen in season 2015-16.

Frank Traugott

It is an extraordinary achievement for one of Australia’s oldest Surf Clubs on one of Australia’s busiest beaches.The Club has achieved this despite progressively declining membership over the past four years.

We are also proud that North Steyne has been the most outstanding Patrol Surf Life Saving Club on Sydney Northern Beaches since 2009; winning the Branch Patrol Assessment Award for the past four years. We have a strong focus on lifesaving – on patrol, in competition and in Education.

In February, we won NSW and National Rescue of the Month (with Manly LSC) when a 19- year- old North Steyne bronze holder of Malaysian descent who had never been on an Australian beach until five years earlier, combined with two members of Manly LSC to revive a swimmer that was found face down in a dangerous rip just south of the North Steyne clubhouse.

The swimmer was unresponsive and not breathing. A week earlier, a life member was also involved in a successful CPR outside patrol hours. This time it happened away from the beach, in the early hours of the morning, during the Sun Run when a young runner collapsed near to our life member who was acting as a marshal for the event.

A lot of other good things happened at North Steyne in the past season. The inaugural coastal visit by Wet ‘n Wild Nippers from Western Sydney on January, 10 2016 was an outstanding success. The initiative gave Nippers from Wet ‘n Wild the opportunity to visit an ocean beach for the first time to test their skills against their “ocean cousins” from North Steyne, learn about ocean water safety and have fun. It gave both Nipper groups the opportunity to learn how Nippers are run in their respective organisations.

Our cadets were another success area for the Club. We retained 85 per cent from the previous season. We trained 28 SRC’s and 23 bronze candidates from our last season membership. Especially impressive was the cadet consistency of attendance and commitment to training, patrols and competition.

We are also especially proud of our “Ripper Nippers”. Our 24 Special Needs Nippers who meet each Sunday of the season and during planned holiday sessions. It is great to see these Nippers develop and enjoy themselves in the surf and sand when they do not always have access to other sporting activities and almost never in a team environment.

We had a small but successful competition team that represented the Club at local carnivals, Branch, State and Aussies. We won Branch medals in masters boats, won a record number of medals in Branch and State Champion Lifesaver competition and have an Australian champion in Courtney Sloan in Champion Lifesaver.

In Education, we had a number of young members become Training Officers and appointed a new Chief Instructor. Our seasoned Assessors had an outstanding year and contributed more than their share to Branch Central Venue Assessments.

Again, our clubhouse and patrols were used to support the international Australian Open of Surfing. Our 18th Ocean Swim was a well run, safe event after dangerous seas required us to re-schedule the event.

And what a night it was for our Club at the Branch Awards of Excellence at Dee Why RSL in June with Rebecca Chapman named Life Saver of the Year, Kyra Jenkins, the joint Young Life Saver of the Year, and we took out the Patrol Assessment for the fifth year in a row.

There are many we need to thank for the success we have had in the past season. We especially thank our main sponsors Channel 9, Toll, Balgowlah RSL, Stone Real Estate; grants received from Lend Lease Foundation, JN Kirby Foundation, NSW Government; donations received from Dorma Madinoz, Bennett surfboards and Favourite Cycles. We thank the staff and sponsors of SLS Sydney Northern Beaches Branch (including, President Doug Menzies, CEO Steve McInnes) and SLSNSW for their support and assistance.We also thank Manly Council and the Council’s Surf Club Liaison Working Group. Special thanks to Ray Cook and team for their assistance with the damage caused by huge seas that flooded the clubhouse in early June.

I am proud to report no lives were lost at North Steyne during patrols in the 2015-16 season. This continues the Club’s unbroken record since it was founded in 1907.

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There have been many achievements of Queenscliff SLSC members over the past 12 months, from saving lives to winning gold medals at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships.

QUEENSCLIFF SLSC

Our members demonstrated their continued commitment to serving the community through Life Saving services and we are proud, once again, to report that no lives were lost under our watch whilst patrolling Queenscliff beach, as has been the case since the Club’s first active patrols in 1924.

But a key focus of the Queenscliff SLSC Board members in the 2015-16 season was to take stock of the Club’s vital signs - the measures of the Club’s success and sustainability.

The Board is acutely aware that a key measure of the Club’s success is member satisfaction of their Club experiences. But also, that our members have a variety of reasons for belonging to Queenscliff and seek different activities and levels of engagement.

What each person seeks from their membership of the Club is as different as their life outside of the Club. Some join to row surfboats, some to race IRBs, some to compete in surf swimming, board and ski competitions and some to race on the sand. Some march and some train and educate. Some coach and some look after patrol gear and Club amenities.

Many join to become qualified and proficient surf lifesavers, do their patrols and never enter a surf carnival. Some love the clubroom life and companionship around the Club bar, whilst many others never set foot inside the clubroom.

In spite of this diversity, when asked, members will tell you that the most important Club success indicators are about the Club’s fundamental purpose of ensuring the safety of the people who visit our beach.

Members want to be reassured that the number of Club Active and Proficient members is not falling, that our patrols are being assessed as competent and ready, and that we are producing each season new patrol members and higher qualified lifesavers.

How did the Club go in 2015-16 with these vital success indicators? • In the past three years, the number of active 18 and over members has increased by 7.4 per cent.

•Lifesaving patrol performance, as assessed by SNB SLS, was above average and with a number of perfect scores.

•There were 70 Bronze graduates, growing the number of bronze medal qualified members by 18 per cent over the previous year. There were also 53 higher-level Lifesaving awards gained; e.g. Gold Medal, ARTC, First Aid, IRB, etc.

The next level of success indicators our members want to know about relates to our Nippers and Junior members - the future of the Club. Are our Nippers being trained in surf skills? Are they competing at carnivals and how successful are they?

It’s great to report that at the Junior membership level (under 17s), the Club is very fortunate to have a group of very talented young athletes who achieved numerous State and Aussies medals over the 2015-16 season. This success is due to their commitment, talent and hard training and the leadership and coaching of our dedicated competition management team.

Nipper participation at carnivals grew in 2015-16 and was greatly enhanced by the Club’s initiative in introducing the Paul Hammond Nipper Beach Carnival. The Club competition and coaching team also implemented a comprehensive Nipper coaching program over the winter period and we can look forward to a significant increase in Nipper participation in surf events next season.

Our members also view the Club’s facilities such as the clubhouse, the gym and equipment storage as essential enablers in achieving the primary success factors. With this in mind, the Board has worked hard to ensure that the Club’s new gym was completed and fully equipped and ready for use. Club members can be very pleased with the new facility that many rate as one the best gyms to be found in a surf Club.

Club members expect that the governance and management of the Club are carried out appropriately. As an Incorporated Association and registered Charitable Fundraising entity, the Club is required to appropriately manage and report its affairs.

To this end, the Club Board has developed, introduced, ratified and registered the new constitution in 2015-16. The constitution meets the latest statutory requirements and addresses a number of significant shortfalls of the old Club articles.

The Board is also pleased to advise of the strong financial performance of the Club over 2015-16 and healthy cash position. Whilst the Club continues to enjoy significant support from our sponsors, the Board has taken action to develop new sponsorship sources and has also launched the Queenscliff Foundation.

On behalf of all Club members, I thank our sponsors, with a special thanks to our sponsorship partners: Northern Beaches Credit Union, Cunninghams Property, Balgowlah RSL and Peppercorn Food Company.

I express my sincere gratitude to so many fellow members, including the members of the Board for their extraordinary commitment and contributions during the 2015-16 season.Thank you also to the many individuals and groups: Life Members, Age Managers, Officials, the Golf Day Committee, Selectors, Grants Committee and many more.

And well done patrol members, patrol captains, our lifesaving Trainers and all Club members.

Kevin Harris

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FRESHWATER SLSC

What a season it was for our Junior Activities section. Peter Obern

Tom Duffy continued as our Director of Life Saving and his leadership and connection with the patrolling group is exceptional. The attention to detail and commitment made by all our patrolling members allowed us to maintain our record of no lives lost whilst patrolling the beach.

John Goldrick took over the role of Director Education in the 2015-16 season. John brought some new ideas and was able to rely on the strong platform that has been in place for a number of years. The feedback on the approach and benefit our members received during their proficiencies was wonderful and I’m sure has led to better performing life savers on the beach. As a Club we continue to provide an opportunity for anyone who wishes to compete in any area of life saving competition. It is a great testament to Michael Kirkby and our section captains to see the strong levels of participation and results that were achieved.

We had great success at Aussies this year in the First Aid events where we were represented in the U17s, U19s and Open events finishing with a bronze, silver and the dreaded leather medal respectively. Our 6 person Open R&R team won gold and the coveted Curlewis Premiership banner as well as medals and finals results for other teams.

What a season it was for our Junior Activities section. We welcomed a new Chairman in Hamish McLean who was thrown in the deep end by not only having to come to grips with overseeing the largest section of our Club, but also lead the celebration of 50 Years of Nippers at Freshwater. Hamish and the team have worked incredibly hard and made it a stand-out season for all the young members and their families. We are very grateful to the Harbord Beach Hotel for again being our major sponsor as well as terrific support from Harbord Diggers, Bendigo Bank, Smyth Estate Agents (SEA), Danny Eid Lawyers and significant new sponsors in Bill Buckle Toyota and KMB Business Advisors. I’d also like to thank the Sydney Northern Beaches Branch sponsors for their support as it greatly assists Clubs in achieving our goals.

Barney Mullins Swim, as well as a number of other smaller events, were incredibly well run and supported this past season. With record numbers at our Barney Mullins Swim, it has been a season to remember.

To be successful on our beach, we do need help from others. Doug Menzies, as Branch President, together with the Branch Executive and staff has continued to listen and work with us to help us achieve our goals.

We were extremely fortunate to have the support of former Warringah Mayor Michael Regan in everything we do and our patrons, John Thorpe AM, Peter Sinclair AO, AM and Premier Mike Baird MP have continued to provide us great support and insight.

Another year in our proud history has closed and when I think about the broad range of activities within our Club, my immediate thoughts are always about how well are we delivering on our commitment to the broader community, that they can come and enjoy Freshwater beach in safety?

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SOUTH CURL CURL SLSC

Our Rippers group continues to grow with the support of some fantastic members of the Club.

Darrin Stoker

Surf Clubs, by necessity, are located in close proximity to the ocean and, as events on the northern beaches in early June this year demonstrated, the combination of tides, wind and surf can be most destructive.

Such was the case at South Curly in September, 2015 when high tides and large swells resulted in the undermining of a sea wall which in turn created a sink hole directly in front of the access ramp to the beach. The result was the loss of IRB’s for the first six weeks of patrols.

During that period we were thankful for support from both North Curl Curl and Freshwater Surf Clubs who assisted in covering us when needed, along with the Branch RWC.

Our patrolling numbers were again very strong, thus enabling us to maintain an impressive 26 patrols. Transition of the younger members coming out of the Juniors and into the patrols has been integral to sustaining this structure, as is the gaining of additional awards required for each patrol. The members facilitating the Training and Assessment of all those SLS awards are to be commended for their dedication and persistence to the task.

Our overall membership had a slight decline. However, we continue to see an increase in the number of Active members in the 13-15 year group providing a net increase in patrolling members as our Juniors gain their Bronze Medallion. We again had particularly high participation and success rates in our IRB awards.

Our two primary fundraisers proved very successful with the Golf Day taking place in April this year rather than October, a strong turnout on a picture postcard day resulted in a very profitable event for the Club.

The ocean swim, also held in April, saw our highest ever number of competitors greet the starter. The weather was not as perfect as the Golf Day but the swimming conditions were excellent and competitors appeared very satisfied with the event. South Curl Curl continued a long tradition of success in the surf boat area in 2015-16. We had an amazing 13 crews competing at some of the major carnivals and provided finalists in the Boat Relay, U19 and Open Women categories at the Aussies, the girls were defending their title but finished with a Silver this year, along with a Bronze in the Relay.

Our Nippers numbers remain steady and the dedicated team running this area of the Club continues to do an outstanding job as they navigate the challenging conditions regularly faced at South Curly.

They somehow managed to keep all kids engaged each weekend, regardless of the frequency of a closed beach we experienced this past season.

Our Rippers group continues to grow with the support of some fantastic members of the Club who have a real dedication to providing an avenue of engagement for these children with surf lifesaving. It is one of the great pleasures of Sunday mornings to see the excitement in these children and their parents as they participate in various activities on the beach and in the water.

South Curl Curl SLSC is fortunate to receive tremendous support from a number of organisations and we thank Freshwater Community Bank, Belaroma Coffee, Beko, Allan Hall Partners, Parnell Partners and everyone who has supported the Club.

The start of the 2015-16 season at South Curl Curl presented some unique challenges as a result of earlier storm damage.

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NORTH CURL CURL SLSC

In closing, I thank Doug Menzies, the Branch Executive and Officers, Steve McInnes and Branch support staff for their assistance last season. Stuart Wye

Sincere thanks to all our volunteers who provided such a committed service to the local community and beachgoers at North Curl Curl. In last year’s report, I reflected on our Club’s patrols continuing to provide an efficient and effective service with some 76 of those patrolling members attaining a 100 per cent patrol attendance. What a commendable number, the most we had ever recorded.

That’s until 2016 - the number increased to 90. Congratulations to our outgoing Club Captain Alex Wye and his patrol sub-committee for an outstanding job of engagement of our patrolling members.

I would indeed be remiss not to make special mention of Club Captain Alex ‘Wiz’ Wye. Alex is stepping down from the Club Captain position next season after 14 years at the helm. Alex’s commitment and dedication in this role has been second to none in our 90-plus years of patrolling North Curl Curl beach.

The Club’s newly created additional storage and member’s areas came into their own last season and albeit some significant hurdles were encountered with respect to approval processes prior to completion, we have already seen the significant benefit the new areas have given us. We again acknowledge the tremendous support of the NSW State Government and the SCFG program which afforded us the capacity to achieve these long awaited facilities for our members.

Season 2015-2016 saw North Curl Curl, along with many other clubs in the Branch, officially celebrate 50 years of Nippers. It was, however, quite interesting to note whilst doing some research on the subject that our Club had been continually running a structured Junior Activities / Juveniles/ Tiny Tots since the 1936/37 season.

The Education portfolio at North Curl Curl was again to the fore last season. With new Trainers and Assessors having been recently appointed, we look forward to them providing much needed assistance with the heavy work load that our existing crew undertake year in and year out. Surf Sports was also a prominent feature at North Curl Curl last season with the hosting of a Boat Carnival and a Fast Five event on top of our annual 3 Points Challenge. Our competition endeavours continue to improve in both numbers and results. Our program that is catering for competitors from our Nippers ranks through to Masters is proving to be quite successful with a second placing in the Branch Junior Activities and a strong representation in the Inter Branch team.So a big thank you to all those involved - organisers, sponsors, coaches, helpers and, of course, the members who officiated at carnivals.

Congratulations are extended to Club past President and Life Member David Murray on his appointment as President of SLSNSW. We wish him well in his new role.

Our sincere appreciation and thanks is extended to both Federal and State Governments, as well as our National and State bodies and their partners for their continued funding assistance. Our Club supporters and sponsors are also acknowledged, for without their funding our lifesaving activities would be significantly reduced and we would struggle to maintain the level of community service that is expected. Our major supporters are John Huston, Vivid Property Services, Freshwater Community Bank, DYRSL, Ian Westmore, Bill Buckle Auto Group, the former Warringah Council and Channel 9.

North Curl Curl SLSC once again enjoyed another successful season. Membership numbers remained strong with nearly 1200 members.

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DEE WHY SLSC

Thank you to our Club captain Ben Davies and our 188 patrolling members on their vigilance and service and the fine manner in which our patrols were conducted. Allen Lakeman

On New Year’s Day there was a mass rescue. There was also a rescue involving a major spinal injury and a near drowning at the Dee Why Rock Pool. One of our members Jay Yeomans participated in an off-duty rescue at South Curl Curl beach with the President of that Club. The pool rescue and South Curl Curl rescue received considerable publicity in the local newspaper, the Manly Daily.

The Club’s primary object is to provide patrols for Dee Why beach. The Club regards competition as a secondary objective designed to promote and encourage participation in patrol activities. The Club does not support Surf Life Saving Australia’s new initiatives for elite sportspeople and recreational sportspeople to be members of the Club with reduced proficiency and patrolling obligations.

A total of 22 competitors from Dee Why competed at the Aussies Open and Youth Championships on the Sunshine Coast. Our most successful competitor was Geoff Horner who won a silver medal in the Board Riding competition. Our boat crews performed well. Four members of our Club, Harrison Crowley, Charlie Mowbray, Reuben Sharma and Louis Mitchell competed well in the Youth Championships.

Training, Education and Assessment has always been a significant feature of our Club. Our Chief Training Officer Matt Molinia and his team of 11 instructors put through 99 candidates for Bronze, SRCs, ARTC, Radio Operators and IRB drivers and crew awards.

The Club has been particularly active in providing Officials in the Life Saving events areas of Patrol Competition, Champion Life Saver and First Aid Competition. I would particularly like to thank Steve Haggett and Adrienne Lowe, who took leading roles as senior Officials at Branch, State and the Aussies in 2016. Greg Punch is also to be commended for his role as an announcer, particularly at the Aussies where he called some of the major events.

The Juniors continue to make up the majority membership of our Club. Matt Molinia and Warren Hannam devoted many hours to coaching and also as competition Officials. A special thanks to Warren who continued on in his role as Nipper Co-ordinator, notwithstanding a significant spinal injury in the surf.

Congratulations to Zizo Ayoub, a young man on a mission who was born in Jordan. He only became a Nipper the previous season. He was crowned Sydney Northern Beaches, Male Junior Life Saver of the Year.

For four days over the Australia Day long weekend, the Orange

Bush Nippers came to Dee Why for the annual BBM Junior Development Camp. They generously reciprocated by inviting the Dee Why Nippers to stay at Orange. Dee Why also ran the Nipper ‘Over the Hill’ Challenge with North Curl Curl. For the Nippers, Dee Why also held the Bennett Board Classic on October 25 and the Youth Fast Fives board carnival, run by Matt Molinia, on December 13.

The Club participated in two major events in partnership with Brookvale Rotary with the Pub2Pub and Fairfax Events with the Sydney Morning Herald Sun Run.

One of the challenges facing the Club is the increasing popularity of social media through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media outlets. The Club created a new position of Social Media Coordinator this year which was filled by Emily Buckle. Emily, at no cost to the Club and in her own time, created a new webpage and coordinated the nine Facebook pages purporting to represent the Club to four. The Club is indebted to Emily for her services.

The Club acknowledges and thanks the members of Sydney Northern Beaches Branch, particularly President Doug Menzies, CEO Steve McInnes and staff members Marcial Nunura, Belinda Dobson and Jen Huston for their support. We congratulate David Murray on his election as the State President. We also thank those members of our Club including Matt Molinia, Adrienne Lowe and Steve Haggett who have done so much in the Training and Education and Surf Life Saving event competition areas.

The Club also acknowledges our sponsors, principally Dee Why RSL and Reilly and Sons our major sponsors, as well as Active Automotive, Dee Why Grand Shopping Centre, Chill Bar, Big Brother Movement, Raine and Horne Dee Why and Collaroy, Mason and Brophy, Wavescape Orthodontics, DHL, Grove Building Group, Bennett Boards, Deck Bar and Dining, URM, Mad Mex, Warringah Mall and Warringah Council.

And a very big thank you to our Branch sponsors.

The Warringah Council Lifeguards also performed with great professionalism in conjunction with our patrolling members. The Club acknowledges Scott Mortimer, David Hooper, Josh Wall, Madison Quinn, Cameron Bealey, Emma Jeffcoat and Steve Downman as well as Clinton Rose and Tim Donkin, many of whom are or were members of the Club.

The Club is proud to report again that there was no loss of life on the patrolled areas at Dee Why beach last season. However, there were a number of significant rescues in big seas and trying conditions.

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