Hey Jet
As a long time wearer of the red and yellow I would have to agree That it is far better to make a donation to your local surf club rather than give it to slsa. The organization does appear to be very top heavy and some of the procedures they set in place do seem to a bit strange on occasions, and iam sure that most of the money they raise does go into the ivory towers they all like to sit inn.
Just to give some perspective for those that are not involved in surf life saving, The club iam a member of is a small club with say 70 senior members and about 100 junior members other than rescue gear such as rescue boards , Rescue tubes, oxygen, defibs ect are only partly paid for by surf life saving All other gear such as the nipper boards the kids train on all senior training boards ect the list is endless the rhino you see volunteers driving on weekends all has to paid for by the club so we have to apply for government grants or just good old fashioned fund raising which takes up more time than actually doing a patrol on the weekends. Just our yearly insurance, maintenance bill and other basic costs would buy you good 100 series cruiser.
As far as safety for those that are thinking of putting there kids into nippers , There is excellent procedures in place for the kids on Sunday mornings But unfortunately when it comes to big competition's where the sponsor logo is on show and there is money involved all the procedures that are in place on Sunday morning at club level seems to go out the window.
I certainly don't condone or agree with what happened at any of those carnivals were young members lost there lives, they should have been called off .
I do agree the management of slsa dose need a shake you but unfortunately it is going to come to late .
So please keep supporting or local club or better still join up for all the bad facets of the organization, At club level it is still a great family friendly sporting association to be involved with .Just my 2 cents worth.
Troy
