Twelve finalists to represent WA at 2020 SLSA Awards of Excellence

Twelve category winners from the 2020 Surf Life Saving WA Awards of Excellence will proudly represent WA as part of Surf Life Saving Australia’s virtual Awards of Excellence.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s National Awards will be celebrated on Saturday, 7 November via a live, online event, consisting of in-studio presentations, as well as virtual interviews and appearances from members across Australia.

The event will be held live across Surf Life Saving Australia’s digital channels and hosted by leading Australian journalist Melissa Doyle AM.

Ahead of this prestigious annual event, we would like to celebrate the finalists from WA, who embody the values of the surf life saving movement and make significant contributions to the success and achievements of the movement here in WA.

Read all about the incredible finalists below:

DHL Club of the Year finalist
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.

DHL Lifesaver of the Year finalist
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.

DHL Volunteer of the Year finalist
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 an integral part of her club and the wider community.

DHL Lifeguard of the Year finalist
Emile Mercier

While short in timeframe, Emile’s lifeguarding career has been a busy one and immensely beneficial to both Surf Life Saving Western Australia and the general public.

With each posting, Emile has pursued every available opportunity for learning and development, which has transformed him into a capable, proactive and dependable Lifeguard.

In the past 18 months, Emile has grown both personally and professionally, building a strong foundation for his future career.

Assessor of the Year finalist
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.

Athlete of the Year finalist
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 and is an athlete to watch.

Community Education Program of the Year finalist
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.

Surf Sports Coach of the Year finalist
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.

Surf Sports Official of the Year finalist
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.

Trainer of the Year finalist
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.

Youth Athlete of the Year finalist

 

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!

Youth Lifesaver of the Year finalist
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.

Check out the full list of finalists for the Surf Life Saving Australia Awards of Excellence here.