The North Wollongong Nippers season starts on Sunday 20th October, and will run through to mid-March, however we do break over the Christmas holidays. You can find the calendar in our closed Facebook group Nippers – North Wollongong SLSC. You will need to answer some questions before being admitted to the group as we will only add parents or guardians of children registered in our nippers program.
During our Sunday mornings nippers program, we require a parent or guardian to remain at the beach at all times and preferably where the child can see you. Children often need to go to the toilet and age managers will not permit children to go on their own.
Sunday morning nippers arrive at 8.45am (for a 9am start). The kids assemble in their age groups with their age manager. Parents are asked to stay nearby to listen to any announcements/information about the days’ activities or other club news.
All children are required to have their attendance recorded by the age manager prior to joining the
morning’s activities, and must also be signed out before leaving the group, whether during nippers or at the end of the session.
Children should arrive ready to start with their cap on and sun screen applied.
It is compulsory to wear the club cap whilst participating in nippers.
(Once nippers has finished for the day and the child has been marked off by the age manager, the nipper cap must be taken off.)
In addition to the cap, any Under 8 – Under 14 nipper taking part in any water based activity must wear a pink hi-visibility rash vest at all times whilst in the water. The pink rash vests have been introduced to add to the safety children participating in water events.
No pink rashie = No participation in water activities.
When the Sunday morning session commences, the children take part in a warm-up and some activities on the beach and in the water.
Under 6’s, Under 7’s and Under 8’s are encouraged to do water wades and other water activities to increase familiarity with the surf and boost their confidence. These groups also are introduced to different events, try out some boards in the shallows and play lots of games in the sand and in the water – again to increase their familiarity with the beach and, well, because nippers is supposed to be fun! Parents and carers are encouraged to get involved and assist the Age Mangers with the activities.
It is important that a parent or carer does not leave the beach and is present at all times.
The older age groups (U9 – U14) use their time at nippers to learn and practice the various skills of the surf and surf lifesaving – surf swimming, boards and beach events. There will also be days where the nippers compete in beach, board and swim events and points are awarded for places. These are Club Championship days. There are six of these point score days throughout the season (please view the nipper calendar for dates). Please note there is a minimum attendance of 75% required in order to eligible for any of the Club Championship awards.
Participation is not, however, mandatory and no child is forced to compete in any event in which they are not capable, or if surf conditions are inappropriate.
Nippers will usually finish around 11am. Thereafter, join us at the Surf club for a delicious sausage sizzle and mingle with other North Wollongong families.
Other things that are a good idea to bring along (please ensure they are labelled):
Children are not permitted to wear watches or jewellery during nippers. Wetsuits may be worn on Sunday mornings, but are not permitted at carnivals or club championships.
Wetsuits may be worn on Sunday mornings, but are not permitted at carnivals or club championships.
The North Wollongong caps, high-vis rashies, club swimmers and other apparel are available from the clubhouse most Sundays or are available online.
For carnivals, club swimmers must be worn.