Nippers (5 - 13 years old)

Junior surf lifesaving (also known as 'nippers') is a program for 5 - 13-year-olds encompassing:

  • Surf Education - a series of lessons to develop surf safety, awareness and survival skills

  • Surf Sports - a range of beach & water-based physical activities, races & games

Our Nippers Handbook provides indepth information about the program. You can download a copy below.

  • Nippers runs on Saturdays from late October until the end of March each year.

    Our regular sessions are held in the afternoon, with school holiday sessions running in the morning.

    The nippers program includes a variety of beach and water activities designed to help children develop surf safety, survival and competitive skills, fitness and confidence in a fun environment.

    In their designated age group, under the leadership of accredited Age Managers, children participate in the different activities on a ‘rotation station’ basis.

    The format rotates on a roster, and may change depending on weather and other conditions - areas of activity include rotating through our surf sports such as:

    swimming

    beach sprints and flags

    fun games

    lifesaving and first aid

    board paddling

  • Due to the club rebuild, during the 22/23 season, West Beach Nippers will be conducted on the beach near the corner of Surf Avenue and Seaview Road, West Beach. Keep an eye out for the flags at the entrance.

    FREE car parking is available at Surf Avenue. There are public toilets located close by.

    The first session of the year for Under 8 - Under 13 will be run at Immanuel College iSwim on Saturday 21 October.

  • Under 8 - Under 13 start on Saturday 21 October. The first session for this group will be held at Immanuel College iSwim.

    Under 6 & Under 7 start on Saturday 04 November. The first session will be held at West Beach.

    The full schedule can be viewed in the Handbook, or in this one-page view.

  • Nippers are placed in an age group that is determined by the child’s age as at 30 September each year.

    All children are required to participate in their relevant age group – unless there is a recognized disability that would be better supported in another age group. In this instance an exemption should be requested from the Director of Junior and Youth Development.

    Children who are not 5 on or before 30 September will be able to participate in any surf babies programs that the club runs over summer.

    This year’s age group guide can be found here

  • Our Saturday Junior Training is conducted completely by volunteers - most are parents just like you who give up their time for the development of our kids. To ensure our Age Group leaders can fulfill their role within the legal scope, we require all parents/guardians to please:

    Sign your child/ren in 10 minutes prior to session start time at the Equipment/Sign On Tent

    Be on the beach for the duration of the training session to assist the leaders (eg general activity helping, behaviour management, toilet stops etc), unless you are rostered on BBQ/Uniform Shop duty etc

    Sign your child/ren out at the designated finish time - this will be at the relevant coloured age group beach banner/s

    If you are unable to fulfil the above duties, please arrange someone to act as your child/rens carer for the afternoon who will carry these responsibilities on your behalf. If not, your child/ren will not be permitted to undertake junior activities. Thanks for your understanding and compliance with this requirement.

  • Our program is very affordable with discounts applicable for multiple children. Fees are inclusive of any surf sports entry fees.

    View our FEES SCHEDULE on our Join now page.

    SA Govt Sports Vouchers are accepted by West Beach - simply complete our form and it will be submitted to our Member Services team (membership@westbeachslsc.com.au ).  The voucher is $100. For all information on the vouchers, please go to their website at http://www.sportsvouchers.sa.gov.au 

    Note: Sports Vouchers can only be redeemed once a year between January - December.

  • As part of WBSLSC’s commitment to keeping children and young people safe all club members aged 14 or over need a current Working with Children Check (WWCC) registered with the club.

    This means before your child’s membership is approved for this coming season, the parent member must provide details of their current WWCC so it can be registered on the SLSSA system.

    Surf Life Saving Australia and West Beach are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the young people involved in SLS. This includes having policies and procedures that aim to address risks to child safety and to establish a child safe culture and practices in line with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.

    This link also provides some additional information on WWCC

    What do I?

    To help finalise memberships as close to the start of the season as possible, please either register your WWCC with us or instigate a new check at no charge ASAP.

    Information on how to do this is on this webpage https://www.westbeachslsc.com.au/wwcc

    Please don’t leave it to the last minute as it may cause issues with registration.

    If you have any questions about the WWCC process, contact Registrar Sharon Burns - registrar@westbeachslsc.com.au

  • Our Director of Junior and Youth Development is Sarah Kemp, and can be contacted via youth@westbeachslsc.com.au

    For any registration or Working With Children Check enquiries, please contact our Registrar, Sharon Burns via registrar@westbeachslsc.com.au