27 Jul SURF SPORTS WINTER UPDATE
Posted at 12:17h
in Surf Sports
We’re eight weeks into our surf sports preparation for Competition in 2022 – 2023.
With some exciting opportunities on the horizon including a trip to WA for Aussies we have some wonderful club experiences ahead.
We have members in the pool training Wednesday evening at The Aquatic Centre from 5:45pm. Monday night swims will commence from August 1st starting at the same time.
Thursday morning we have a group running at 6:15am under the watchful eye of Phil Evans. The sessions have been well attended.
Sunday has been our introduction to ski paddling and recently we have introduced a 10am board paddle.
The club wishes to thank all of the adults assisting in the Surf Sports arena without the dedicated support we would not be able to support our youth athletes to stick with competitive lifesaving. It is worth noting if there was a monetary figure put onto this volunteerism in our club it would equate to approximately 38K in-kind support given to coaching and mentoring throughout the season.
The surf was up on Sunday 24th July therefore our mentors and coaches provided a dry session. Our newly practiced ski paddlers participated in a workshop hosted by the ‘Coach Connect’ surf lifesaving initiative. Youth paddlers listened to former Olympian Jimmy Walker and current Aussies mens ski champion Jackson Collins. They analysed Jackson’s victory in the 2021 Open mens ski race. It was interesting to hear a number of strategies and beliefs offered by both experienced paddlers and many ‘takeaways’ from the session were reinforced by our coaches and mentors. Some notable takeaways included…
Training to take ‘The title,’ helps train at race pace – What will our title be? How can we use it?
Take each session day by day and make the session count.
Focus on each race as it unfolds and don’t get caught up in thinking about finals.
A healthy competitive culture supports each athlete to improve.
Stay calm in stressful situations.
There has never been a program written for a twelve year old that guarantees success, experience and commitment to training is the better approach to adopt.
The club will be purchasing some adjustable skis over the next few months. This is a positive situation as we see many youth in our club sticking with craft competition as their chosen sport. We have plans to offset the financial burden on the club to hold some fundraisers; please keep an ear and eye out for social events on the club calendar.
Upcoming Events/Carnivals
23/10/2022 venue TBA
Summer of Surf – Last weekend of October TBA (Coffs Harbour) Let’s hope!
6/11/2022 Woopi (Yet to be verified but likely).
1st weekend of December = Interbranch – Central Coast
12/2/2023 Branch Champs Minnie Water (Yet to be verified but likely).