Hi everyone,

We are now just one week away from our AGM on September 23 in Auckland with the Club Chairs Workshop and Awards of Excellence dinner. We have a good attendance lined up for the AGM (46 clubs) and very large crowd of 250 attending the dinner, so I look forward to a great night. There are no major constitutional changes being proposed at the AGM this year, just three areas where tidy ups are being proposed, so it’s a relatively quiet AGM with just the normal few agenda items and decisions on Elected Board positions, Election for a new President, Board Honoraria and appointment of Auditors.

However, there are some good, meaty topics to discuss at the Club Chairs Workshop, which takes up most of the day and I am looking forward to that.  Topics of health & safety and what constitutes ‘consultation’ are going to be high on the agenda following the events of the last week, where the Board decision to make helmets compulsory when in an IRB has highlighted differing views and a need for greater alignment on what is a good process for decision making.  After a week of emotion I am looking forward to getting to the crux of the conflicts and addressing those.  What reassures me is that everyone has the best interests of the surf life saving movement at heart, so even though opinions may differ at times, the outcome we are all looking for is the same.

Now we are well into September, hopefully we start to see a little less rain and some warmer days.  With patrols starting in only five weeks it would be nice to think the weather will soon look a lot less like winter.  But we at least can be thankful we haven’t had the monsoon rains of Asia or the hurricanes of North America and the Caribbean.  Those horrendous weather events are a timely reminder that it’s never too soon to start planning for the consequences of global warming, especially those of us who love being by the coast.

Back at home, it will be interesting to see what government we wake up to on the 24^th September.  Given all the unexpected events in politics around the world in the last year, and already in the campaign, it’s hard to know what the outcome will be.  Vote well everyone……………..

Cheers,
Paul Dalton

Condolences

It is with great sadness that we advise of the passing of two members over the past month; Stan Thomasen who was the original club secretary at Kariaotahi from 1968 to 1971 and Matty Fletcher who was a very early member of Muriwai Volunteer Lifeguard Service, joining in the early 1950s. Our thoughts are with their family, friends and fellow clubbies at this tough time.

Awards of Excellence

The 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Club Chairs Strategy Workshop is all set to take place next Saturday at the Heritage Hotel in Auckland ahead of the national Awards of Excellence dinner. Congratulations to all of our award finalists. Next week we will be announcing all of our Service Award recipients. We look forward to welcoming all of our club delegates and attendees and celebrating another great season. 

Summer staff positions

There are still a number of roles available for the coming season. There are conditions you must meet in order to be considered so please visit our Summer Staff Positions page of our website for more information or contact your regional staff member.

Find out all the key event dates across the organisation including the regional, lifesaving and sporting spaces. 

National Lifeguard School

This year’s National Lifeguard School will take place at Fitzroy, New Plymouth from December 8-10. Applications for Mentors and Instructors are now open. Please check the important pre-application information here on our website to see if you’re eligible for selection before September 25. Applications for candidates will open on October 1. Click here for more information.

Operational policy changes

Surf Life Saving New Zealand wishes to inform all members of changes to four key operational policies for the 2017-18 season. They include helmet use in powered craft and lifeguarding around rocks, a temporary ban on all club-based rock rescue training for new lifeguards, the compulsory removal of the right foot strap in IRBs and the removal of rigid cervical collars from First Aid kits and First Aid rooms. A memo has been circulated to all Club Chairs, club Lifesaving Managers, Examiners and Instructors outlining the details and you can also find the information here on our website. 

Changes to the IRB Crewpersons Module

Due to changes in the Health and Safety space, SLSNZ is formally beginning the process of mandating that a Surf Lifeguard must hold the IRB Crewpersons Module to crew an IRB operationally. The newly structured crewpersons module will be delivered by a club instructor in the space of one day, concluding with an examination. Please click here to read the full memo about the changes.

Zespri Raglan IRB Development Weekend

Congratulations to the candidates that passed their Senior Lifeguard-IRB Drivers Award at the Zespri Raglan IRB Development Camp earlier this month. Thank you to the large number of candidates, instructors, examiners and helpers and of course to Zespri for their support with training and upskilling our members.

BP Leaders for Life

The 15 candidates were placed into four groups at the first workshop in July and they are currently working on assigned projects across the lifesaving, education, sport and membership spaces. They will come together in Auckland next weekend for their second workshop and they will also be attending the Awards of Excellence. The remaining workshops will take place in Wellington in November, Christchurch in March and conclude in Wellington in May.

Emsisoft rips project

A year-long project utilising new technology to map rip currents has concluded, unearthing several unexpected benefits in the process. The data has now been processed and a final report has been written by project manager Dan Lee. The next phase of the project is to gather new data to develop an evidence-based approach to searches in the future and interested groups will be invited to help. Click here to find out more.

Pre-Hospital Care Conference

The 2017 AECTP (Association of Emergency Care Training Providers) Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Conference will be held in Wellington on November 28 and registrations are now open. The annual conference provides a wide range of speakers who will update practitioners and trainers with current, relevant and important information about immediate first aid and emergency care. Click here to find out more. 

Atlantic Ocean challenge

Taylors Mistake Surf Life Saving Club member Isaac Giesen could be the first New Zealander to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The 24-year-old will set off on December 12 to row the over 3000 nautical mile-stretch of ocean between the Canary Islands and Antigua, in the 2017 Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. Click here to find out more.

Pool champs

The Northern and Central Regions have kicked-off the surf sport season with their regional pool championship events. The Southern Region event takes place this weekend followed by the Eastern Region from September 23-24, all building up to the New Zealand Pool Championships from October 13-15.

This year’s national champs will once again be held at the Sir Owen G. Glenn National Aquatic Centre at AUT Millennium on Auckland's North Shore. Entries close on September 25. The programme has been confirmed and this, along with other key documents, can be found here on our website.

Official pool champs merchandise is now available to purchase via the Teamline website. Please note you will need to order online before October 2 and collect it from the onsite shop. Orders will not be sent out prior to, or after, the event.

Make sure you join the Facebook event page to keep up-to-date with news and information.

DHL International Surf Rescue Challenge

The countdown is well and truly on for the DHL International Surf Rescue Challenge (ISRC) 2017 with less than three months to go! Make sure you join the Facebook event page to keep up-to-date with the latest news and information.

Under Armour factory store

There is now an official Under Armour shop in New Zealand and it is located at Dress-Smart in Onehunga, Auckland.  

If you or any of your club mates have been doing some interesting things lately please let us know! It’s great to share with other members and recognise what our clubbies are up to. Click here to email us.