What is Nippers?
Nippers is a program tailored for 5–14-year-olds and their families which fosters a dynamic environment for families to have fun and friendship and gain invaluable life skills.
Through engaging activities centred around surf safety, lifesaving techniques, and ocean skills, Nippers not only builds essential survival skills but also develops a level of camaraderie and teamwork.These future lifesavers embark on a journey of personal development, instilling qualities of leadership that extend beyond the shoreline.
Nippers is more than a program; it is a community where lifelong friendships are formed, and the thrill of the surf is matched only by the joy of shared experiences.
Benefits of participation
- Builds foundational skills for days on the beach, whether that is relaxing, patrolling or surf sports.
- Provides a sense of being integrated into a broader community.
- Delivers a source of friends and learning how to interact with others.
- Teaches a diverse range of skills, not just beach and water safety, but teamwork and other foundational skills which help later in life.
- Helps spark an interest in Surf Life Saving and provides an access point into the movement.
- Nippers makes you more confident and comfortable in the water.
- After being a Nipper, patrolling seems more accessible and easier to achieve.
What does Nippers aim to achieve?
- A way for young people to build surf awareness and surf safety skills.
- Bridges the gap between lifesaving and surf sports.
- A pathway into the movement for Nippers and their families.
- Playing at the beach while learning lifelong skills and making lifelong friends.
- A fun opportunity for families to spend time together at the beach.
How can we join?
If your children would like to become involved in Nippers - contact your local surf life saving club.
Surf Life Saving Clubs create a program to suit the needs of their members and their beach conditions. The program will be focused on participation and enjoyment and will not just be built around competition. The goal is to increase the confidence and skill base of nippers in the water and the sand.
CHILD SAFE ENVIRONMENT
SLST takes its responsibility seriously to deliver a safe, fair and inclusive environment for Children & Young People involved in Surf Life Saving.
Surf Life Saving's (SLS) Child Safe Program assists our commitment to the protection of Children and Young People (CYP) from abuse, harm and exploitation. The program builds the capacity of SLS to protect our CYP by providing resources and education to support clubs to provide a safe environment for all members.
The Child Safe Program is underwritten by the Surf Life Saving Australia Child Safe Policy.
Volunteering in Surf Life Saving Clubs
The Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Act 2013 aims to protect children from harm by providing the highest standard of compulsory background checking for anyone involved in child-related work or volunteering in Tasmania.
It is mandatory for all surf life saving members aged 18yrs+ to hold a Registration to Work with Vulnerable People (RWVP).
For more information on registering to volunteer visit the CBOS website
About Play By The Rules
Play by the Rules provides information and online learning for community sport and recreation on how to:
- prevent and deal with discrimination, harassment and child abuse, and
- develop inclusive and welcoming environments for participation.
Click on the logo for more information about how you can use the resources on Play by the Rules to promote inclusive, safe and fair participation.
Play by the Rules is a unique partnership between the Australian Sports Commission, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, all state and territory sport and recreation and anti-discrimination agencies and the Queensland Commission for Children, Young People and Child Guardian.
