At its core, ANZA Nippers is about learning to save lives. This may sound easy, but the process of training future lifesavers is not simple.
The myriad of skills required to safely navigate and understand the water and beach, as well as to perform rescue and first aid operations, necessitates a complex set of abilities. Teaching those skills begins at nippers.
What looks like fun and games at Sentosa every Sunday morning is often serious stuff that trains critical foundational skills needed for future rescue missions: confidence, sportsmanship, strength, speed, problem-solving, teamwork, safety, and respect for the environment.
Flags is one common game in which ANZA Nippers run around collecting hose off-cuts. It seems like chaos, but this and games like Four-Sided Murder-Ball train the nippers’ dexterity on soft sand, teach them how to maneuver quickly and change direction, and provide awareness of obstacles (including each other).
Agility & balance
Various other activities teach the kids how to maximise speed and dexterity in and around shallow water through resistance and balance. You’ll see them doing high knees along the beach, and using hoola hoops to take high and big steps, while dolphin diving creates confidence in shallow waters.
The efficient transition from sand to water (and back again) is a key skill that nippers need to learn. Relays and bucket relays, which involve fetching water and sand in buckets and bringing them up onto the beach, teach both agility and coordination as children transition from one environment to another.
Signalling is critical for communication given the distances and noise levels found on surf beaches. Games that involve signalling for help and teamwork like relays and Tug of War, are a core way to encourage team interaction and communication.
There are also plenty of skills to be learned on and in the water. Head Down – in which kids keep their heads in the water for long periods – educates them on how to be comfortable with air control, and also helps them to understand the types of animals we share the beach with.
Plenty of the exercises involve other forms of equipment. A definite favourite is the boards, which are great for balance and coordination when taking rescue equipment to and from the water safely and quickly.
So what to most of us might look like just fun on beach (which let’s face it, it is!), is actually carefully curated activities that teach critical skills for surf life savers of the future.
Term 2 starts 1 September
Registrations now open at anza.org.sg/sports/nippers
