Junior Surf

What is Junior Surf?

The Junior Surf Programme is designed to enrich the lives of our young members through engaging activities and active participation, learning personal, lifesaving, and competition skills, in a safe aquatic environment. We don’t teach kids how to swim, so we expect everyone to have a basic swimming ability when they join.

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Our aim is to create the next generation of lifeguards to help us keep patrolling every summer at the beautiful Scorching Bay Beach. We want as many of our juniors as possible to train as lifeguards once they reach 14!

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Worser Bay is one of 74 clubs across the country and part of Surf Life Saving New Zealand 18,000 members including 4,500 lifeguards. 

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Lifeguards provide a valuable service to our club and community. There’s also the opportunity to earn money as a paid lifeguard or even lifeguard over the summer months, and you get to learn all sorts of cool skills like crewing and driving IRBs (rescue boats), motor maintenance, first aid and much more. 

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Who can take part?

To join our Juniors programme your tamariki need to be at least 7 years old on 30 September 2025 Their age grade (i.e. Under 8, Under 9 etc) relates to their age on that date. At the moment we don’t run a “Nippers” programme (Under 6 or Under 7). 

 

Club Days

All age grades participate in our Club Days every Sunday from 9.30-11.30am. Club Days are all about having fun on the beach and in the water and developing kids’ skills so they can enjoy the beach and one day might be able to save someone else too. We also teach kids what they need to know to take part in Junior Surf carnivals if they want to.

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Please arrive in time for kids to be changed into wetsuits and ready to go at 9.30am. Every kid needs to have a nominated adult present on the beach.

 

Oceans Midweek (U11-U14) training - preparing kids to lifeguard or compete

At Oceans training we are working towards preparing tamariki to gain their Lifeguard Award when they turn 14, and/or to compete at a senior level if they want to. Any kids wanting to compete at a senior level (14 years and older) are required to get their Lifeguard Award and patrol over summer.

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Oceans training is optional and takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5.30-7pm. It’s not compulsory to attend every session but we encourage kids to come as often as they can.

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We expect our Oceans kids to put in the effort at training each session, listen to the coaches and keep everyone safe, so we get to do fun activities like take on the waves at Lyall Bay, board over to Seatoun Beach and even the occasional spot of wharf jumping.

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We encourage Oceans kids to work towards taking part in the Oceans Festival of Junior Lifesaving at Mount Maunganui at the end of February with over 700 athletes from all around New Zealand. Last year’s Worser Bay athletes had a lot of fun and even came home with some medals!

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Important dates

​There is an exciting line-up of events and carnivals booked for the coming season - get these dates in your diary! Carnivals generally start by 8:30 am, with a briefing for team managers beforehand, and depending on the number of competitors and conditions end some time after lunch. 

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Sunday 5 October

Worser Bay (club house)

Parents pre-season meeting, AGM and Working Bee - please come along and meet the team and find out more about the season ahead. Kids welcome. 

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Sunday 19 October 

Worser Bay

Club Open Day - season opens 

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Monday 20 October 

Worser Bay

Oceans training starts 

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Sunday 2 and 9 November

Worser Bay

200m swim badge tests

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Sunday 9 November

Lyall Bay

Capital Coast U14-Open all in Carnival (U14s only)

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Sunday 23 November 

Worser Bay

WORSER BAY CARNIVAL - all members encouraged to participate. We will need parent help to get ready for the day too

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Sunday 14 December 

Waitarere Beach 

Capital and Coast Junior Carnival 

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22 December - 3 January

Christmas Break

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9–11 January 

Paekakariki

Central Region Junior Champs 

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Sunday 18 January

Riversdale Beach 

Capital Coast Junior Carnival 

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Wednesday 4 February 

Titahi Bay 

Capital Coast Oceans Hit Out (U11-U14)

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Sunday 8 February 

Lyall Bay

Capital Coast Junior Champs 

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19-22 February 

Mount Maunganui

Oceans Festival of Junior Surf (U11-U14)

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Sunday 22 March 

Worser Bay 

Season closes - swim from Seatoun Wharf to Worser Bay!

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Sign up now!

Fill in our registration form to sign up now! You will also need to register with Surf Lifesaving New Zealand, selecting Worser Bay as your club.

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Membership fees 

We keep our membership fees as low as possible by using volunteers to coordinate the programme. Membership fees help us to pay for coaches, maintain club equipment and generally keep the club running. 

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Please pay your club fees to WBLSC bank account: 02 0500 0034741 00 before the start of the season, using your family name as a reference.

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Junior membership (all ages) $120

Family membership (covers the whole family) $250

Midweek Oceans training fee $100 per athlete

High-vis rash vest (compulsory for all athletes - these are sized and should last a couple of years depending on growth spurts) $27 each

Surf beanie (required for carnivals - Worser Bay colours and one size fits most) $15 each

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Parents - we need you!

Worser Bay Life Saving Club is volunteer-run and we need help from you all to give our tamariki the best experience possible. It doesn’t need to be much, every bit counts! If everyone can help out with a job once a month we will be more than covered.   

We need help with:

• Dry land duties: raking the beach, making hot Milos, sweeping the club room.

• Water duties: helping out in the water as a marker for kids to swim around

• Age group support: managing sign in/outs for an age group, supporting coaches with managing children as needed

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Health and safety 

Keeping your tamariki safe in the water is our number one priority! Here are a few important health and safety points and reminders:

• Parents on the beach/water: We need to ensure a ratio of 1 adult on the beach or in the water actively supervising, for every 5 children - this includes at our Oceans midweek training. We will be rostering on parents this year to ensure we maintain this ratio. For Club Days, if you are not on the beach, please ensure there is a responsible adult who knows they are in charge of your child should they need an adult. 

• Sign-in/sign out: This season we will have a mandatory sign-in/sign-out process so we know exactly who is in and out of the water. Please make sure your tamariki do this every session.

• High-vis rash vests: Fluro rashies are compulsory for any kids going into the water. If you don’t have one, please pay for one (see above) and pick it up at the Open Day.      

• 200m swim badge: Having a 200m swim badge is compulsory for any kids using the big foam and fibreglass boards. To get this kids need to be able to swim 200m in the ocean in under nine minutes and then tread water for one minute. We’ll be testing kids on Sunday 2 and 9 November, so make sure you’re there!

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