Bellambi, one of the Illawarra's smallest surf life saving clubs, has won four major awards at the New South Wales Surf Life Saving Awards of Excellence event held on Saturday, August 26.
Brody Robertson and Halle Bone were awarded Youth Lifesaver of the Year and Youth Volunteer of the Year respectively, while Jaclyn Percy won Trainer of the Year and Bellambi’s call-out team won Services Team of the Year.
Club captain Rob Gorkin said the accolades reflect the strong collaborative dynamic at the heart of the club.
“To say we're stoked is an understatement. As a club, that's amazing, and as a branch we did very well,” he said.
“With Brody and Halle and Jackie, those that have been with the club from nippers on and have put so much of their heart and souls into it, it's just amazing. They have done so well.
“Also from the rescue team perspective, that has many people that are working together… so it's a testament to the whole club, and we do that well because all the other pieces are also working.”
During the 2022-23 surf season, Bellambi, with only 36 patrolling members, clocked up more than 2600 patrol hours, with the average member contributing more than 80 hours to keeping beachgoers safe. What wasn’t reflected in this statistic, Rob said, were the extra hours members spent training, coordinating their nippers program or assisting at surf carnivals and some of branch’s largest multi-agency SAREX (Search and Rescue Exercise) events.
“I think there's a passion to be at our beach that’s just in our DNA – all the members go above and beyond,” Rob said.
“There's an opportunity at our club where, let's say you're at one of Sydney’s beaches or even some of the bigger Wollongong beaches, there's a lot of members and they need to spread the wealth in terms of the training and opportunities, where almost every member [at Bellambi] has multiple awards. We almost need to, to just be patrolling, but that makes us better patrollers and better able to respond [as] everyone has those core skills.
“One of the maybe un-championed benefits of being at a small club is that you get exposure. It's partly out of need, but you get exposure to all these things which makes you a bit more able to respond and everyone puts their hand up, so it's a real asset, and it’s that enhanced kind of lifesaving that we're all a part of.
“But we're always open, always looking for new members, always looking for new nippers.”
Beginning their time at Bellambi as nippers, Brody, Halle and Jaclyn, who were each awarded for their individual efforts, also played a significant role in the recognition of the club’s call-out team.
“We bring people up from nippers and beyond, so we have a track record… and as you can see, the nippers that stick around, they tend to do great things,” Rob said.
“Jackie and Brody, who both got awarded, became duty officers (DOs), and that was part of our response team.
“Brody being one of the youngest in the branch’s history, and Jackie being the only female DO, which is also important, and Halle’s also been doing training.”
All three will now go on to be considered for Surf Life Saving Australia’s Awards of Excellence in their respective categories – a great source of excitement for the club, Rob said – but until the November ceremony comes around, focus is firmly set on the upcoming season.
“[It’s] fantastic. We’re obviously wishing them well and I think they're looking forward to that next bit,” Rob said.
“On behalf of us all, we're very, very grateful for not only the opportunity… but we also know there's a job to do where the season upcoming could be a scorcher, and we know there's going be new people at the beach and more people at the beach, so we are basically already preparing for that.
“The feeling is awesome and really amazing, but we're already back onto the job.”
