SLSA
‘Surf Sports Australia’ is a subsidiary of SLSA that strives to develop surf sport participation initiatives in line with the SLSA strategic plan. Surf Life Saving Australia holds several national sporting events that are either open to the general public or solely for SLS members.
As the head of surf sports in Australia, SLSA establishes policies, programs, and other supporting resources that have the added value of increasing safety competence in and around water.
For example, SLSA has several policies specifically relating to Surf Sports available on their website and within the SLS Members Area Document Library. For example, SLSA Policy 5.04 outlines proficiency and patrol hour requirements for all members wishing to be eligible to compete at SLS Championship Events.
SLSA also publishes their SLSA Surf Sports Manual that’s made for the proper advancement, encouragement, management and administration of surf sports competitions in Australia. In the event of any inconsistency between this Manual and the SLSA constitution the SLSA constitution takes precedence.
The manual contains the SOPs for surf sport competitions and complaint handing processes for surf sports events.
The junior surf sport program is designed with a Surf sport skills focus on: body boarding; wading; dolphin-diving; beach sprint starts; and beach flag starts.
Not only can SLSA provide sporting opportunities that support fundamental movement skills and a sporting pathway through the SLSA club system, our programs have an added value of increasing safety competence in and around water, providing basic water and beach skills involved in Surf Life Saving surf sports in an active, fun and engaging way.
SLSA follows the minimum standards of fitness testing set out by the International Life Saving Federation (ILS) [3]. Each patrolling member must take part in an annual skills maintenance session to demonstrate they meet the minimum fitness levels for duty.
The following pathways for Surf Sports in exist in Australia:
SLSNSW
In addition to an emergency service, SLSNSW is also classed a State Sporting Organisation (SSO) for sport purposes. As a SSO recognised by the Sports Australia, SLSNSW is affiliated with Surf Sports Australia and responsible for developing surf sports from community participation to high performance levels in NSW.
SLSNSW’s status as a SSO also means that SLSCs may apply for government grants and other benefits for sporting organisations (see Grants section of this Club Guide for more information on applying for grants).
The SLSNSW Chair of Surf Sports sits as a Director on the SLSNSW Board of Directors. They also Chair the SLSA Surf Sports Standing Committee and, along with the SLSNSW Sports Manager, develops strategies and outcomes for the advancement of surf sports in NSW and sitting on various national level committees.
They are supported by a number of advisory committees that provide advice on surf sports in NSW, especially in relation to surf sport and athlete development, partnerships, team and personnel selection, and competition rules. The composition of these advisory committees regularly change in response to the SLSNSW strategic plan and policies and procedures established by Surf Sports Australia.
The list below outlines the current key advisory committees at the time of publication:
- NSW IRB Advisory Panel
- NSW Surf Boat Panel
- Official Advisory Panel
- Surf Sports Selection Panel
There are also various working groups at any given time that are established to achieve specific strategic goals before they are disbanded at the completion of the project.
Refer to the SLSNSW Annual Report for more information on current advisory panels.