It came to a head earlier
this season when I was watching a televised broadcast of the Iron Man series
when something odd was said which caught me by surprise.
In the closing stages of an
Iron Man race; 1st and 2nd was decided in an exciting last gasp dash for the
finish line when the commentator exclaimed “now that is what Surf
Life Saving is all about..” and every one just wholeheartedly
agreed without qualification.
They interviewed the winner
as they quickly covered him in sponsors gear and they said this again like a it
was a long accepted truth.
Now don’t get me wrong, I
really enjoyed watching the race, but I immediately thought to myself; “NO,
it’s not ALL about that at all”.
Not to me anyway, and quite
possibly not to the vast and largely silent majority of club members too I
suspect.
Again, this refreshed a
niggling question that has been dogging me for some time;
Is Surf Life
Saving losing sight of what it was originally all about and becoming too
commercial?
First thing that is clear is
that the Competitors are not the beneficiaries. They are still largely funded
by their families and fellow club members even up to the elite level.
Each year, I hear about
record numbers of patrol members being trained, and massive amounts of money
being raised but life on surf patrol is largely unchanged from when I started.
We are still running the
same annual money drives to fund club activities and most years we have no new
patrol members so where do all the people we train go?
I know there is a lot of
regard for our community service and various programs recognise time at the
surf club like Duke of
Edinburgh and those schools affiliated with surf clubs realise
what we are about.
The question is do we
retain these members after the requirements of the Duke of Edinburgh or School
sports are over?
I would like to see us
return to a more balanced view of our surf life saving core principles.
 |
| Gold Medallion |
It
surprises me that this aspect is not
promoted as an aspirational challenge for everyone to do more by SLS administration.
So I ask you, are we losing our identity here?
The introduction to the SLSA Policy
Statement on Member Protection in November 2012 states the
following:
As part of the
surf lifesaving community, each individual makes a commitment to actively
encourage behaviours that promote a supportive and nurturing environment and
contribute to our core purpose: “To save lives, create great Australians and
build better communities”.
Now this appears to be
right on the money for what we do.
The SLSA website looks great but wow is there a lot
to digest.
Originally I joined the
surf club because it was family oriented, now I realise I am part of something
much bigger. It is the local rather than the global perspective that gets
volunteers coming to a club.
On Monday 6th May 2013,
Four Corners aired a story about Surf Life Saving that was highly critical of
the SLS administration.
This was understandably met
with quite passionate responses (and I was no exception) both for and against
its claims as some of the footage in 1996, 2010 & 2011 was upsetting to say
the least.
Criticism, no matter how
well supported, at a volunteer organisation like Surf Life Saving will struggle
to find footing.
None the less we need to
hear it, as we improve by overcoming our challenges much more than our
successes.
For those that missed it,
links to the Full 4 Corners program called “the
Surf Club” is here and the SLSA board response that came soon after
it via Ralph Devlin is linked here to judge
for yourself.
I think clubs are struggling
to reconcile the mixed messages that are being delivered from the top to us as
members.
We are too slowly realising
that with increased governmental regulation, we are now viewed not as
‘volunteers’ but as ‘quasi employees’ working for a global brand.
Now nothing I have said
above is intended to criticise anyone I know in Surf Life Saving be it my club,
branch, state or national level.
In fact all the contact I
have had thus far with all these levels has been great. Remember you can
disagree with people on various issues but still maintain respect for them
based on shared community values.
However something changed a
few years back and I am putting this out there so we can begin to mend the
balance.
Robert Gatenby,
Saxon Bird
and Matthew
Barclay’s memories demand it.
SLS has a large free and
committed workforce so I expect them to survive and even prosper. The marketing
is significant and we need to put it to best use
Well what is the morale -
well this is for you to decide but if you agree we need a more patrol oriented
focus in years to come than I am with you.
Perhaps then future Channel 7, 4
Corners and the ABC programs might focus on all the other good work we do
in SLS instead.
Now all of the
views expressed above are my own.
