** Due to Covid-19 and social distancing measures, Nippers has cancelled sessions until further notice. Check their Facebook page for regular updates.
Nippers is set to return Sentosa for another awesome season. In the off season many of our members travelled to beach destinations to practice their skills in the surf, while some of our departing families continued their Nippers journey by joining new SLS clubs in Australia and New Zealand.
This year we are moving our operations to Palawan Beach, closer to where we store our gear at Focus. That means a new beach and island for our Nippers to explore on Sunday mornings. We will continue to teach the Australian Surf Life Saving curriculum, which covers the three general principles of surf sports: swim, beach and board.
A special thanks to all the parents and volunteers who help to load up their cars and carry gear from the cage to the beach each weekend. The move to Palawan means that we won’t have to travel as far and we’re looking into alternative transport options, such as purchasing a trailer. Until then, we’ll keep finding creative ways to get the surfboards down to the beach!
For those who have signed up for our waiting list, we hope that a place becomes available soon. Our registration numbers are limited for safety reasons, as we keep a ratio of one Bronze Medallion holder (“Bronzie”) in the water for every five children.
Interested in helping out at Nippers? We will be conducting our fifth Bronze Medallion training later this year, with trainers coming up from Avalon SLSC in New South Wales. We’re hoping lots of parents will sign up, so that our club can continue growing. This year we have an U14 age group who will be eligible to do their Surf Rescue Certificate and once they turn 15, they can also gain their Bronze Medallion. It’s a great program to teach surf awareness and lifesaving operations and also a chance for our older kids to act as leaders for the younger age groups.
Our other plans for 2020 include organising beach clean-ups, educational sessions with marine experts, nature walks, and camping trips around Singapore. We’re also hoping to arrange a trip for our Nippers to experience real surf conditions somewhere in the region, in comparison to the calm waters at Sentosa.
