Carnivals and Competition

Last season, 2017/2018 was a good one for the North Wollongong Nippers carnival team. Our carnival team was one of the biggest in recent years and we had some excellent results throughout the carnival season. We definitely punched above our weight when competing against some of the bigger teams!

One of the best parts of having a big carnival team is the ability it gives us to enter team events. This is when the fun and teamwork come into play as the kids are no longer just competing for themselves, but for their mates as well.

We would like to build on the success of last year’s carnival team and welcome more kids into the North Wollongong team. You don’t have to be a champion – just willing to give it a go! We encourage all of our nippers to think about doing carnivals this season. Good results are great, but our emphasis is on having a go!

Sometimes, if you’re not familiar with carnivals, it can seem a bit of a mystery and something that other ‘elite’ or  ‘seasoned’ nipper kids do – every nipper child can compete in carnivals (pending successful completion of proficiency swim – which we will help you with).

Please note, each club is required to provide people to help with the running of carnivals. Thus, parents of carnival kids will be required to assist (either as officials or water safety). This is not a big time commitment and can be easily worked out between parents.

Hopefully, the information below will help answer any questions you may have. If you have any further questions, please see Belinda Jacobs, our carnival coordinator, or your child\’s age manager.

UPCOMING 2018/19 SEASON SYDNEY WATER CARNIVAL DATES 

Round 1 – Saturday 27th October 2018

Round 2 – Saturday 3rd November 2018

Round 3 – Saturday 10th November 2018

Round 4 – Saturday 17th November 2018

What Are Surf Carnivals?

Carnivals are competitions where kids put into practice the skills they learn at nippers. The kids compete against kids from other clubs that are in the same age group. There are individual and team events. U8’s compete in flags, beach sprint, wade, wade relay and beach sprint relay. U9’s – U14’s compete in surf swim, board race, swim teams, board relay, sprint, flags, sprint relay. U11’s – U14’s also compete in ironperson events. There are also various team events such as board rescue and cameron relay. There are also all age relays for beach sprint (U8 – U14) and all age board relay (U9 – U14).

We encourage our kids to enter teams into relay and team events as this is often where the most fun is had!

There are three levels of carnival competition:

– Local Branch
– Inter Branch
– State

Local Branch Carnivals

All members are encouraged to participate at the branch carnivals so as to enjoy the friendliness and rewards that competition can bring.

There are four Sydney Water Carnivals scheduled at the beginning of the Surf Season. Please ask on Registration Day or contact the Club Office prior to Orientation day to enter your nomination. The Junior Development and Branch Carnivals are usually held in February each season. Nominations for these carnivals can be taken later in the season. Local carnivals start at 8.30am sharp and all competitors are asked to be at the beach of the carnival by 8.00am

For insurance purposes a carnival entry must be made for each local carnival.

Inter Branch

All competition for inter branch teams takes place annually. This involves the selection, through trials at the first two Sydney Water carnivals each season, the team comprises of up to forty competitors from U/12 to U/14 years age group selected from the 17 clubs of the Illawarra Branch.

State Titles

State competition is open to all members who are proficient in their run-swim-run and have completed their Surf Ed for the current season. Team events are selected through Branch Selection at local carnivals.

Carnival Training

To facilitate the performance of our carnival kids we run training sessions outside of nippers on a Sunday. We have mid week surf based training sessions for carnival competitors (day to be advised). We will also be running training sessions after nippers on a fortnightly basis.

(Please note that the ‘Junior Competition Proficiency’ swim must be successfully completed before a child can take part in carnivals or carnival training. Please see the Junior Handbook or the Proficiency Requirements for more information.)