Boards donated to surf clubs will help Cooper Webb, left, Madison Turnbull and Trent Yates nip about in the surf.
Camera IconBoards donated to surf clubs will help Cooper Webb, left, Madison Turnbull and Trent Yates nip about in the surf. Credit: Supplied/Andrew Ritchie.

Perth: Donated boards help junior lifesavers nip into their training

Jon BassettWestern Suburbs Weekly

DONATED kneeboards are allowing juniors to nip about in the surf during their foundation lifesaving training at surf clubs this summer.

There are more than 7000 nippers in training programs at surf clubs each Sunday across WA.

Each club was given 12 of the boards by Surf Life Saving WA sponsor AGL this month, after another donation last year.

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“All 31 clubs in WA now have 18 each of these nipper boards, meaning our young lifesavers of the future have access to equipment essential to helping them develop both their skills and confidence in the water,” Surf Life Saving WA president Craig Smith-Gander said.

“I want to be a lifeguard to help save people from the ocean,” City Beach SLSC nipper Madison Turnbull (11) said.

Last year’s boards were decorated by North Cottesloe SLSC member and artist Jacob Butler, known as ‘Shakey Jakey’.

Mr Butler created a unique design for the latest tranche of the surf equipment.

However, the boards’ decorations were the last thing on the minds of nippers Madison, her club mate Cooper Webb (8), and Scarboro SLCS’s Trent Yates (8) when they were tested in the waves at City Beach last week.

“You can go faster on them, and you don’t have to use your legs,” Trent said.