Please note the following positions are guidelines only. Please adapt the positions and their responsibilities to suit your club’s needs. Your club may not require all of these roles or it may choose to have more. Remember it is imperative that a Nipper Committee communicates effectively with your Life Saving Club’s committee. The nippers program isn’t a separate club to the lifesaving club, but it is a program offered by your club to younger members and their parents to develop water safety conscious children and future lifesavers.
Mentor Junior Coordinator
Role: To oversee and guide the Junior Coordinator to develop, coordinate and oversee the Surf Education Program for the club.
Responsibilities:
-A person in this role has previously had experience running a Surf Education Program
-To facilitate and guide the development of the Junior Coordinator in their first year in the role
-To be an ongoing point of contact for advice and guidance on decision making for the Junior Coordinator
-To be a point of contact for parental enquiries during the running of the program, drawing on past experience, allowing the Junior Coordinator to handle day to day activities
-The Mentor Junior Coordinator is an especially important role in a new Junior Coordinators first year in their new role, as having the mentor allows the co-ordinator to get their head around the day to day nuts and bolts of the program and whilst the Mentor assists with background issues
Junior Coordinator
Role: The Junior Coordinator will develop, coordinate and overseethe Surf Education Program for the club and such activities will be provided in an inclusive manner. The aim of the role is to develop future lifesavers in a positive, enriching and nurturing environment.
Responsibilities:
-To deliver a Surf Education Program that will facilitate the transition of junior members into advanced lifesaving and competition activities.
-To conduct training sessions for nippers with an awareness of their skill levels, prevailing weather conditions and achievable outcomes in a safe and welcoming environment
-To coordinate volunteers to assist with the delivery of the Surf Education Program
-To provide the programs volunteers with an introduction or induction and to provide on-going instruction and access to surf education resources and materials
-To liaise with parents of current and future Nippers
-To be part of and liaise with the clubs committee
-Communication with members, volunteers and sponsors and benefactors
-Write the program including lesson plans for each session in each age group. These will need to be tailored for each club according to the format of the program. The Surf Education Booklets are a great start point but the Junior Co-ordinator will have to ensure that Nippers are getting a comprehensive program that fits in the time frame.
-Represent club on the Member and Leadership development Council
Assistant Junior Coordinator
Role: To support and assist the Junior Coordinator to develop, coordinate and oversee the surf education program for the club.
Responsibilities:
-Assist in the smooth operation of day to day operations of the program
-Engage with parents of nippers in the program and potential nippers parents
-Assist Age Managers with any issues that may arise during the program and ensure adequate water safety numbers for age groups
-Assist with setting up of beach, activities and equipment where necessary
-Support and liaise with water safety team
Age Managers Coordinator
Role: To organise, instruct and develop new and existing Age Managers for your clubs Nippers program
Responsibilities:
-Support, liaise and assist Age Managers for each age group
-Go through lesson plans and explain fundamental aims and objectives of each session
-Whilst every Age Managers may not have all the skills and understandings in all areas of program delivery, the Age Manager Coordinator will be able to seek out and utilise expertise from within their Club to assist these Age Managers.
-Conduct pre session Age Manager briefings to inform Age Managers of what is ahead for the day and provide an opportunity for all to share and give feedback and trouble shoot how improvements can be made.
Water Safety Coordinator
Role: The Water Safety Coordinator is responsible for the preparation and supervision of Nippers participating in water events.
Responsibilities:
-Ensure regulations pertaining to nipper’s participation in water activities are met.
-Refer to Water Safety Policy 1.1 for ratios
-Organisation of parent and cadet/active Bronze Medallion or SRC award holders to fulfil Water Safety roles.
-Rostering of Water Safety across activities and age groups
-Ensure water safety personnel fill in logs to record their hours of duty
-Liaise, coordinate and support IRB personnel. This may also include the layout of buoys and cans for water activities.
Coaches/Activities Coordinator
Role:To encourage, guide and instruct participants with the technique and skills required to complete the activity
Responsibilities:
-To encourage participants to ‘have a go’
-To teach participants basic technique, skill or rules of activity
-To ensure participants are in a safe learning environment
-To equip coaches and activity hosts with the necessary information to conduct their sessions passing on consistent fundamental teaching points for activities and required skills
Beach Manager
Role: To organise the beach setup with the group rostered for the day and liaise with different parties to ensure equipment and areas are ready to go and operations run smoothly throughout program.
Responsibilities:
-Designate beach areas
-Lay out boards and other equipment
-Ensure beach is cleared during pack up
-Organise the repair and replacement of broken equipment. This may require liaising with the Junior Coordinator and club committee
Fundraising Coordinator
Role: To develop and coordinate all fundraising activities run by the junior section
Responsibilities:
-Advertise fundraising activities to be undertaken during the Nipper program and ensure adequate helpers to run the activity E.g.BBQ, raffle ticket sellers
-Organise certificates of thanks to sponsors and supporters of Nipper program
-Organise banking of monies from fundraising activities
SponsorshipCoordinator
Role: To develop and manage all sponsorship and grant applications relevant to the clubs nippers program, under direction from the Junior Coordinator and club committee.
Responsibilities:
-Working with the clubs sponsorship coordinator, plan and produce a sponsorship package specifically for the Nippers Program
-Approach specific companies or organisations with the Sponsorship package to try to gain their support
Youth/Cadet Coordinator
Role: Encourage and recruit cadet aged members to be more involved in the club with the aim of retaining them as members.
Responsibilities:
-Advertise to target age group all youth activities at club e.g., water safety, YIPs Program (think of best method of communication. e.g. social media and communicate massages, so that it is appealing to that demographic)
-Design activities to encourage retention of this age group.
-Advertise via club newsletter, social media and club notice boards all leadership opportunities and camps at club and state level.
Junior Competition Team manager
Role: The Junior Competition Manager has overall responsibility for the club’s junior competition team
Responsibilities:
-Recruit volunteers as coaches, age area managers for carnivals and officials
-Organise and promote competition training to nippers in the Surf Education Program
-Ensure members competing hold the required awards and proficiencies
-Review and implement Life Saving Victoria directives and club requirements for carnivals.eg. register participants and officials on the competition management system
-Organise equipment, officials and helpers for carnival
-Attend competition
Nippers Surfguard Administrator
Role: To organise all administrative aspects and complete documentation required by LSV associated with the Nipper program
Responsibilities:
-Enter all Preliminary and Competition Evaluation proficiencies and Surf Education Awards into Surfguard as per the Junior Evaluation and Surf Education Requirements as directed by assessments
-To enter competitors into carnivals via the LSV online entry system. This may also be the Competition Managers role, or a shared responsibility.
-Assist Junior Coordinator with communication to volunteers and members of the Nippers Program
-Complete LSV documentation as required
Age Managers
Role:
An Age Manager plays a fundamental role within the Nippers program and is responsible for the care, safety, well-being and development of the junior lifesaver.
Responsibilities:
-Ensure safety and well-being of group
-Take responsibility for the education of the group using SLSA surf education program and resources
-Establish, coordinate and report all operational aspects relating to the age group to the Age Manager Coordinator
-Be a positive role model
-Be willing to further their knowledge of life saving
-Complete Age Managers course
-Plan creative, educational and fun lessons
Assistant Age Managers
Role: To provide support to the Age manager
Responsibilities:
-Assist the Age Manager in the implementation of the education program for the age group.
-Be aware of children’s capabilities within the age group and cater for them and make water safety aware of any special needs.
BBQ Team
Role: The coordinate and organise the daily Nippers Barbeque for participants, supporters and families.
Responsibilities:
-Ensure barbeques are in working order
-Purchase required food and drink amounts
-Set up and clean-up of barbeque equipment and area
-Supervise and support rostered helpers
Social Events
Role: Organise social functions during season to create an inclusive and welcoming culture
Responsibilities:
-Liaise with committee regarding events and work with the fundraising coordinator
-Recruit helpers
-Coordinate event particulars
-Examples of events may be:
- Movie night
- Presentation event
- Christmas barbeque
- Parents verses nippers event
First Aid Officer
Role: To ensure there arequalified personnelattending the Nipper session to provide basic first aid should the need arise.
Responsibilities:
-Ensure a First Aid station is set up and equipped and all know its location. (This may be the first aid room in the clubhouse)
-To provide basic first aid when required
-To coordinate further first aid and services where required
-To clean up station and report any damaged or low stock levels to the Club’s First Aid Officer following each session
-To ensure the First Aid log is filled in correctly with relevant information
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