NIPPERS

To join Queensie Nippers you must have turned 5 before 30 September of the year that they are eligible to join Nippers. Children are registered in the age group according to the age of the child on 30 September. For example, if your child is 11 on 30 September, the child will be in the Under 12s.

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate age group movements.

Queensie is a family club and is run by a large and dedicated team of volunteers. We need your help to make sure Nippers runs smoothly and our kids can compete in carnivals. There are a large number of opportunities for volunteering. These include:

• Helping out on Sunday sessions (beach set up/pack up; uniform shop; barbeque duty)
• Officiating at carnivals (please contact Andrew Townsend (atownsend1965@gmail.com) if you want to volunteer as this requires training)
• Water safety
• Patrol – patrolling members are the backbone of the club and are the reason that Queensie has not had a single death in the entire history of the club. We run regular Bronze training sessions. Contact Kerry Seipelt (education@queenscliffslsc.org.au) if you are interested!

All nippers parents are required to complete a minimum number of volunteering hours in a season or you will need to pay a levy on your membership. Signing up is easy via ‘volunteer sign-up’ tab. Volunteering is fun and you get to meet some great people.

These dates are indicative only and depend on COVID-19 restrictions. All dates are posted on the Queensie TeamApp with more details.

Pool Proficiency  – All nippers are required to be signed off as proficient in the pool before they can participate. U8 – U14s need to attend one of two pool sessions to be signed off for the season.

These will usually occur in September.

Sunday sessions will commence on Mid October and finish Mid March – wetsuits are recommended for the first few weeks.

Training continues through the surf lifesaving season and over winter for Nippers who are keen to keep wet.

All important dates and notifications about nippers are on the Queensie Nippers TeamApp site. We strongly suggest that you download this onto your phone if you haven’t already done so. If you don’t have TeamApp you will miss out on important notices!

Step 1: Download Team App from your favourite app store – it’s free!

Step 2: Sign-up within the app

Step 3: Log into the app, search for Queensie Nippers and request to become a member.

Step 4: Check out the groups and request any memberships.

Step 5: Wait patiently while the admins approve

Step 6: Enable notifications….stay with me here, I know they can be annoying, but we’ll try to keep TeamApp updates to just the super important stuff!

Nippers is all about getting our kids Surf Confident, Surf Competent and SURF SAFE. Our program involves a range of activities aimed at increasing fitness, skills and knowledge. These include:

• Beach – sprinting, flags and relays.
• Board – skills on handling the board in the surf
• Swimming – up to 300m surf swim depending on age group. We also teach the older nippers how to use a rip to get out behind the breakers quickly.
• Lifesaving – a huge part of nippers is training to be a surf life saver. At Queensie we believe that everyone can learn to save a life no matter what age. Nippers learn the basics of resuscitation and first aid from day one.
• Surf safety – from understanding rips and currents, to reading the waves and knowing what to do if you get stung by a blue bottle – Queensie nippers get taught how to stay safe while having fun on the beach.

Marshalling for the nippers Sunday sessions starts 15 minutes prior to your Age Group session on the beach outside the club. Nippers are expected to be signed in and ready to go at the start time, so please arrive early. Parking is at a premium, so allow time!

For older nippers (and parents) there is a club swim that happens from 10:30am. You can see if you can beat our masters swimmers round the can and back to the beach!

Parents are expected to stay on the beach while nippers is running. Parents are also asked to assist with running events…expect to get wet!

These events are unique to surf lifesaving and are an opportunity for nippers of all abilities to compete at events and win points for Queensie.

March Past involves marching as a team around an arena. It’s very technical, but the best thing is wearing your team colours and representing your club!

The team will train after Sunday nippers through the season and there may be some midweek evening sessions around carnival time.

Rescue and Resuscitation or R&R involves a simulated rescue and resuscitation. Teams of 2 and up compete depending on age group. It’s another technical activity, but loads of fun. Queensie R&R teams regularly win medals and we have the legend Col White as our head trainer!

All nippers are required to wear a high vis pink rashie. This is an essential piece of safety equipment and it makes sure they are visible at all times on the beach and in the water.

We also need all nippers to wear a Queensie skull cap and a pink hi-vis rash vest. These are compulsory and must be worn during the Sunday session and at carnivals. Remember to put your nipper’s name on the cap in marker pen!

Queensie swimsuits are also available. These are not compulsory, but Queensie swimmers are the best.

The uniform shop is open on Sunday mornings throughout the season and on registration days. They take cards only.

If you are a returning member you can renew all memberships online through the Surf Lifesaving Portal. (https://sls.com.au/join/). It can be a bit tricky to use. You’ll need to set up each member of the family as a member, THEN set up a family group…..then you are set.

Of course! Queensie has families from all over Sydney, the news has gotten around that we are the best!

Children need to be 5 years old by the opening of the nipper season – Second Sunday in October

All competitors regardless of whether they are in the water or on the beach need to be water proficient. We will run everyone through their ocean proficiency early in the season to make sure they are eligible.

While we have no rules around the minimum number of Sunday and training sessions nippers need to attend to be able to compete, it is important that they do come along regularly.

The club will pay for all nippers to attend carnivals. However, it is really important that if you have registered you turn up (otherwise you will be required to reimburse the club for your entry fee). The number of nippers competing dictates how many officials, water safety, IRB and first aiders Queensie is required to provide.

These dates and locations are set by Surf Life Saving Sydney Northern Beaches and will be available at the beginning of the season, and listed in the Nippers Calendar.

Generally carnivals take place at Manly, Freshwater, Queenscliff, Newport, Narrabeen and Dee Why.