Director of Member Development | Brendan Smart

This season has been a big one for courses and member development with the following numbers of members completing courses for the 2019/2020 season:

The Training and Assessment team was faced with several difficult challenges at the start of the season, which included training and assessment regulations and guidelines being changed by LSV (in part due to industry changes). We were very limited in fully qualified trainers and assessors however with 3 dedicated members (Terry Aslanidis, Campbell Smart, and Alan ‘Aquamole’ Hailes), we managed to train and assess a total of 348 new awards this season.

The future of Woolamai’s Trainers and Assessors is looking strong, with 9 fully qualified Trainers completing their TOC, 2 Assessors, and 3 Certificate IV holders currently in the middle of their training. I encourage anyone wanting to participate in any training or assessment of a course, to get in contact with the Chief Instructor for further information.

In the offseason, Campbell and Terry moved the Chief Instructor cupboard upstairs in the Training room, and with the help of Darrell Clark, they have fitted the cupboards with locks and new stationery which includes a new printer and laminator. The club was lucky enough to also gain a heap of new training equipment including 5 new little Annie Resuscitation Manikins and 2 new training defibrillators.

Woolamai Beach members were once again represented at the annual Bass Lifesaving Development Camp run at Waratah SLSC, with the largest group we have ever sent. 18 members attended the camp, gaining invaluable skills and life-long friendships.

Advanced Lifesaving Camp also known as Gold Camp was again run by none other than our too elite Woolamai members, Mick and Dan Sullivan. The camp saw a squad of 4 female Woolamai members participate in the week-long interview, with 3 members gaining their Gold Medallion on Camp.

We would like to personally thank all the trainers and assessors who participated in the many camps run this season with special mention to Terry Aslanidis who ran/organized almost every course. The amount of volunteer work Terry does in a season is out of this world. Without our trainers and assessors, there would be no lifesavers on the beach.

Finally, looking to next season, Brendan is working with Scarboro Surf Life Saving Club to establish a Lifesaver Exchange Program.

The new partnership between Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club (WBSLSC) in Phillip Island, Victoria, and Scarboro Surf Life Saving Club in Scarborough Beach, Western Australia aims to develop lifesavers as they experience life as a volunteer lifesaver in a new and exciting coastal environment.

This exchange program will aim to build the connection between the clubs by ensuring exchange volunteers are operationally involved in the day-to-day duties of a new volunteer lifesaving service in an unfamiliar environment.

Further details and an expression of interest form will be circulated to the broader membership in the leadup to next season.

See you at the beach!

Brendan Smart (Director of Member Development)

Joshua Smith (Chief Instructor)

Terry Aslanidis (Vic-Chief Instructor)