The South Port Surf Lifesaving Club was established in 1959 in the coastal Adelaide suburb of Port Noarlunga, South Australia. The South Port Clubhouse is situated in the sand dunes at the mouth of the

Onkaparinga River The Onkaparinga River, known as Ngangkiparri or Ngangkiparingga ("place of the women’s river") in the Kaurna language, is a river located in the Southern Adelaide region in the Australian state of South Australia. Rising in the Mount Lofty Ran ...

Estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

. Due to its location at the mouth of a major

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n river and its position in

Gulf St Vincent Gulf St Vincent, sometimes referred to as St Vincent Gulf, St Vincent's Gulf or Gulf of St Vincent, is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, the other being the larger Sp ...

, South Port is a renowned surfing beach for both board riders and body surfers.

History

The club's beginning

In 1958, following a meeting on the beach after a carnival between officials of

Surf Life Saving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, ...

and Geoff Price, Frank Harris and Geoff Cornwell, approval was given to form a Surf Life Saving Club at South Port. Before this, members from Port Noarlunga S.L.S.C. had needed to run down to South Port with the gear to perform the rescues, and in cases where first aid was needed carry a stretcher up the cliffs. There was an obvious need for a rescue facility at South Port as this was the area where the most rescues occurred. Many of the members of Port Noarlunga also spent much of their spare time at South Port surfing or body surfing and it was a very popular beach for the growing sport of

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

. At this time there was also a dispute between the above members and the Port Noarlunga Club at this time due to a minor disciplinary matter and consequently the desire to set up a new club was due to both personal and life-saving reasons. The Port Noarlunga Club argued against the formation of the new club and accused the breakaway group of being "rats deserting a sinking ship". Geoff Cornwell argued the case for the formation of the club and the Surf Life Saving Association, under the presidency of Don Newlands, approved the new club. The original name of the club was South Port Noarlunga but the Noarlunga was dropped as part of the name. The South Port Club came into being when seven members of the Port Noarlunga Club applied for permission to form a club to patrol the beach in the vicinity of the mouth of the

. "Good luck chaps and congratulations on your initiative"

S.L.S.A. of S.A. 7th Annual Report

The fledgling club began patrols in season 1958/1959 from February onwards with the following members who are named on the first registration form that was lodged at SA State Centre on 22 December 1958:- The original club colours were to be navy blue and white but Henley Beach complained and the colours were registered in 1958 as

navy blue Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color n ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, and

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

. These colours were subsequently changed in that first season to the current navy white, and

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

. In those first two seasons with such a small membership it became very difficult to maintain the patrols and set up a new club and clubhouse, so new members were needed to ensure the permanent establishment of the South Port Club. In season 1960/1961 Don Alexander and Graham Ellery who were discontented at Glenelg S.L.S.C. joined the South Port Club and this new injection of experienced senior members enable the South Port Club to become firmly established and start to grow. The ten members involved in the permanent establishment of the South Port Surf Life Saving Club are the foundation members of the club and all members past, present and future are greatly indebted to their foresight and hard work. In 1960/61, a clubhouse was purchased for $194 and erected on a section of land that in 1958/1959 had been leased from the department lands and the Port Noarlunga District Council.

Training

Surf lifesavers must be

competent Competence may refer to: *Competence (geology), the resistance of a rock against deformation or plastic flow. *Competence (human resources), a standardized requirement for an individual to properly perform a specific job *Competence (law), the me ...

swimmers as well as experience in rescue,

resuscitation Resuscitation is the process of correcting physiological disorders (such as lack of breathing or heartbeat) in an acutely ill patient. It is an important part of intensive care medicine, anesthesiology, trauma surgery and emergency medicine. W ...

and

first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

. This experience is gained in a minimum of 20 hours of training and followed by a written and practical examination.

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

must be at least 15 years old for their initial training and at 16 years of age volunteers are encouraged to become proficient in

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

administration. Upon completion, members are awarded the Nationally Accredited Certificate 2 in Public Safety (Aquatic Rescue) Bronze Medallion and become qualified to patrol a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

. Yearly proficiency must be shown to maintain their ability to patrol. South Port also has junior members, or

Nippers Nippers are young surf lifesavers, usually aged between 5 and 14 years old, in clubs across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Unlike senior surf lifesavers, the majority of them do not patrol the beaches. The focus for Nippers tends t ...

as they are more commonly known.

are aged between 5–13 years and learn beach safety and awareness skills, in a fun and healthy environment.

References

External links