2020 Awards of Excellence winners
AGL Lifesaver of the Year
Awarded to: Angus McMillan (Scarboro SLSC)
As a Patrol Captain and Director of Beach Operations at his club, Angus continually steps up to lead and mentor others at Scarboro, and always puts up his hand to develop his own skills.
Angus has been focused on stakeholder engagement, continuous improvement and asset management to ensure lifesaving services delivered by his Club are setup for success.
AGL Volunteer of the Year
Awarded to: Janine Prinsloo (Yanchep SLSC)
Immigrating to Australian from South Africa and determined to live the Aussie lifestyle, Janine and her family joined the Yanchep Surf Life Saving Club in 2016, with Janine taking on the Director of Administration role in 2017.
Instrumental in the significant growth of the membership, building of external relationships, and making the club a welcoming destination for the community, Janine supervised the design and build of the new website, new club uniforms, and promoted the role and work of the club, in addition to being a patrolling lifesaver.
Her passion and commitment to improving the Yanchep Surf Life Saving Club to benefit the community makes her a worthy winner of the Volunteer of the Year award.
Age Group Manager of the Year
Awarded to: Belinda Somers (Scarboro SLSC)
Last season Belinda was responsible for the Under 13’s at Scarboro Surf Life Saving Club. She has an inclusive approach to managing which is highlighted by her engagement of Nippers with special needs.
Belinda has worked with each Nipper under her care to set goals to work on over the season, encouraging them to participate in social events, clinics and carnivals, as well as regularly liaising with the Under 14 Age Group Manager to ensure a successful transition for her group as they move from Nippers to Youth next season.
Trainer of the Year
Awarded to: Bernadette Flint (Mullaloo SLSC)
Bernie has been a valuable member of Mullaloo, sharing her extensive knowledge and skills in everything education, for the past nine years.
Seamlessly picking up the club’s Education Manager role in November, she has demonstrated her ability, with Club members requalifying in over 600 awards and attaining 331 new awards.
Bernie has a passion for what she does, evident in the way in which she delivers courses, while also lending support to other clubs in the development of their training teams.
Open Athlete of the Year
Awarded to: Jake Smith (Trigg Island SLSC)
A former Youth Athlete of the Year award winner, over the past season Jake has been part of the Australian Lifesaving Team, WA’s Super Surf Teams League teams, the Western Suns Interstate team and captain of the Western Suns Pool Rescue Team.
In the pool, he’s brought home an array of medals – with six individual golds and one silver at the SunSmart WA Pool Rescue Champs, as well as three silver and two bronze at the Australian Pool Rescue Championships.
Jake demonstrates true sportsmanship both in and out of the pool, with his efforts over the past season earning him the Open Athlete of the Year title for 2020.
Youth Athlete of the Year
Awarded to: Harrison Hynes (Fremantle SLSC)
Harrison is a machine in the water, taking out five gold, a silver and bronze at the SunSmart WA Pool Rescue Championships, where he also broke three records plus, a gold, silver and bronze at the Australian Pool Rescue Championships.
Harrison always represents WA with pride and sets a great example to the younger SLSWA members with his professionalism and sportsmanship.
As an athlete who has represented his club, WA and Australia in Pool Rescue events, Harrison is an athlete to watch next season!
Lavan Club of the Year (first place)
Awarded to: Scarboro Surf Life Saving Club
Scarboro’s purpose is to cultivate and develop an active and healthy community to generate better and more resilient people through surf life saving.
Throughout the 2019/20 season they have delivered on their strategic directives by training 68 new Bronze and SRC, and 97 advanced skill awards whilst also increasing patrol presence through the integration of observations towers across three locations.
They have targeted recruitment resulting in an increase in membership and continued with strong support of members to further develop them. Scarboro has a strong focus on governance and community engagement and demonstrates clear goals of continuous improvement.
Their focus on the bigger picture and expansion of programs and services makes Scarboro stand out from their peers as the 2020 Lavan Club of the Year.
2nd Place: Fremantle Surf Life Saving Club
3rd Place: Trigg Island Surf Life Saving Club
Surf Sports Team of the Year
Awarded to: Trigg Island Open Male 4 by 25m Manikin Relay, made up of Jake Smith, Callan Smith, Joshua Windsor & Lachlan Meldrum
This Trigg Island powerhouse, made up of Jake Smith, Callan Smith, Joshua Windsor, and Lachlan Meldrum, has been competing together for three years, with significant improvements each year.
This season, they took home gold at both the SunSmart WA Pool Rescue Championships and the Australian Pool Rescue Championships.
The gold medal secured at the Australian Pool Rescue titles is significant, with the team taking the title over the defending champions from Currumbin Surf Life Saving Club team, which was made up of three pool rescue world record holders.
Official of the Year
Awarded to: Roger Nowell (Sorrento SLSC)
Roger is a familiar face at surf sports carnivals and events, as he officiates all age groups from Little Nippers through to Masters. Roger was Referee for all 3 rounds of the SunSmart WA Surf League and is comfortable fulfilling any role, asked of him.
He is always willing to help new officials and is extremely popular with all on beach thanks to his approachable nature, great communication and ability to handle high pressure situations.
Coach of the Year
Awarded to: Andrew Ridley (Sorrento SLSC)
Andrew is a three-time Coach of the Year winner and it is easy to understand why. He coaches a range of athletes in the Pool Rescue arena, aged from eight years old through to masters, and from eight different surf clubs. His athletes have experienced significant success at the Australian Pool Rescue titles and SunSmart WA Pool Rescue Championships.
This past season Andrew also helped deliver coach education training to new coaches at Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club while also mentoring has existing junior coaches.
Assessor of the Year
Awarded to: Graham Sharpe (Swanbourne Nedlands SLSC)
Graham is an assessor of the highest calibre, who has been a mainstay of the education team at Swanbourne Nedlands. He contributes extensively to his club, Surf Life Saving WA and the Surf Life Saving movement more broadly.
Graham looks to the future. He recognises that leadership involves the development of people and he continues to mentor trainers, less experienced assessors and facilitators.
Patrol Club of the Year
Awarded to: North Cottesloe SLSC
This season North Cottesloe SLSC implemented a number of practical improvements to ensure Patrol Captains could deliver effective lifesaving services to the local community during every patrol.
The club recognises youth engagement and development as an important focus for the coming years and works hard to retain and attract new patrolling members to the club to improve and strengthen their patrols.
Youth Lifesaver of the Year
Awarded to: Campbell Shaw (North Cottesloe SLSC)
Campbell is an emerging leader within North Cottesloe who has made significant contributions to his club this past season, including obtaining his Bronze Medallion Assessors course, mentoring new trainers and working tirelessly in the background to improve the lifesaving and education sections of the club.
This is showcased by his work to facilitate a relationship between his club and Scotch College, which resulted in the implementation of a community service program for year 10 students at the school.
Support Operations Volunteer of the Year
Awarded to: Chris Brien (Esperance Goldfields SLSC)
As a member of the Wesfarmers Emergency Response Jet Ski Team, Chris has been actively involved in a number of significant search and rescue missions in Esperance this past season, as well as a number of first responder taskings.
Chris’s approach to emergency response and first responder taskings sets a high benchmark within surf life saving and is based on collaboration, communication and coordination. He is an asset to his club, surf life saving and the south west community.
Community Program of the Year
Awarded to: Multicultural Surf and Beach Safety Program (Fremantle SLSC)
Developed to help familiarise immigrants with the beach, its inherent dangers and who they can ask for help, Fremantle has run these valuable surf and beach safety sessions for newly-arrived immigrants in the area since 2014.
The program involves an in-school presentation followed by a beach session at Fremantle Surf Life Saving Club and is provided free of charge to the local schools. The Multicultural Surf and Beach Safety Program is considered an investment in the student’s future and is an effective approach to teaching the fundamentals of beach safety.
Young Volunteer of the Year
Awarded to: Paige Bajada (City of Perth SLSC)
Last season Paige took on a senior leadership role at her club, becoming co-Club Captain, which saw Paige working both on the beach and within the Club Executive Committees.
In her role, Paige has particularly focused on youth in the club, helping to engage them in patrols and providing them with pathway options. She regularly volunteers as part of the club’s IRB section and provides water safety for internal and external events.
Woodside Nippers Program Coordinator of the Year
Awarded to: Keiron Burke (Sorrento SLSC)
Keiron puts his heart and soul into the Woodside Nippers Program at Sorrento, which has the biggest cohort of Nippers in Western Australia, so it takes a lot of organisation to get the program running each week.
Keiron oversees the set up and pack down and ensures the program runs smoothly. He also chairs the Junior Committee meetings and sits on the Board of Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club.
Woodside Nippers Program Volunteer of the Year
Awarded to: Peter Gray (Albany SLSC)
Every Sunday without fail, Peter arrives at Middleton Beach around 7:30am and commences the set-up of equipment for a day of Woodside Nippers. From towing trailers, setting up arenas and preparing water safety equipment, Peter ensures the entire day will run as smoothly as possible.
He then spends the morning assisting with the Under 7’s before ensuring all equipment is packed away and returned to its rightful spot, often being the last one off the beach.
Woodside Nippers Club of the Year
Awarded to: Trigg Island Surf Life Saving Club
Last season Trigg Island introduced a number of initiatives to assist in the running of their Woodside Nippers Program. One of these was the staggered start to their season, which saw the Under 6 and Under 7 groups commence their season later than the others.
This change provided the Under 6 and 7 age managers, who were generally new members, the opportunity to shadow and learn from experienced Age Group Managers before they undertook the role themselves.
Another focus area for the season was the Under 13 group, where Nipper leaders were identified, and leadership skills developed through a program that gave them a say and provided mentoring and an opportunity to lead and grow.
