Central Coast Surf Clubs saving lives in and out of the water
Gotcha4Life and Surf Life Saving (SLS) have a lot in common. We both build strong communities and save lives.
But we don’t do it by getting wet. We do it through mental fitness workshops for SLS clubs.
Many of those clubs, like those across the NSW Central Coast where we’ve been delivering workshops for youth leaders, support us too, raising funds and awareness by joining the annual 24 Hour Row.
When Youth Director of Surf Life Saving Central Coast Jordan Smith heard Gotcha4Life founder Gus Worland speak at a SLSC Conference, he knew he’d found a way to support youth members and leaders.
“Gus and the Gotcha4Life team were able to connect with every single person there in a way I hadn’t heard before,” Jordan said.
“I thought it would be a fantastic thing to bring to our youth. We had done lots of leadership development, but we had not touched on their personal development. That’s why we brought Gotcha4Life in.
“Some of these youth will be exposed to something traumatic in their lives, like a traumatic rescue. Learning to build their mental fitness and look out for each other through the program will go a long way to help them in their lives.”
Jordan could see the change in the coast’s young leaders after the first workshop.
“It was powerful. There was the realisation they were all facing similar challenges, that everyone has got challenges, and if someone’s a bit quiet, check in.”
“Some of them were close knit, and it made them closer. But it also highlighted some were networking on a superficial level. After the program, they started meeting outside it in a more meaningful way.”
“They still meet up now. They still go to visit each other's patrols. It’s building a fabric of cohesion across the coast.
“We are here for the same message. As one kid said, ‘we compete with different caps on, but when that’s done, we have the one cap of red and yellow’. And that’s their Village. They are all joined by that.”
The clubs are also united in their commitment to the 24 Hour Row, with six joining last year’s fundraising event. Jordan’s home club of Ocean Beach alone raised $8,000, enough for 160 people to attend life changing and sometimes life saving Gotcha4Life workshops.
“We had a masters crew and a youth crew there at the same time supporting each other. That’s why Surf is a great thing - young and older mateship, supporting each other. It’s the basis of mental fitness too, supporting and reaching out to each other, which is what they learn in the workshops.”
The funds raised by the clubs and their communities across the region will enable Central Coast Surf Life Saving to work with Gotcha4Life to bring targeted workshops to more age groups.
“We have four youth programs for different age groups, from the Rookies division (12-13 years) up to Opens (19-plus). We’re redeveloping the program so we can do annual workshops for each group,” Jordan said.
“They were scattering the ashes of a dad who had taken his life. Ten of them just jumped on the machines and rowed throughout the afternoon.
“The Row really brings everyone together to support each other. When I rowed at 3am, one of my friends sat with me so I wasn’t alone. One of our former members who had moved to Queensland even flew down just to do the Row last year.
“The Nippers didn’t want to get off the machines. It meant a lot to them knowing they were doing something for the club and community together.”
The local community supported the Row with generous donations, including the clubs’s Deputy President Craig’s workplace, Volvo Commercial Vehicles Australia, that matched every donation dollar for dollar in year one.
The club has raised $20,000 in the first two years, enough for 400 people to attend Gotcha4Life workshops where they learn to build their emotional muscle and the skills and confidence to check in with their mates, and reach out and ask for support when they need it.
That’s what inspired Nadine, like Jordan, to bring a workshop to her club after hearing Gotcha4Life at a SLS conference.
“It was incredible. Hearing Gus from Gotcha4Life speak about breaking down the stigma of not being able to ask for help or say hey, are you alright was so powerful,” Nadine said.
“I know we’ve got a club where if I break down, I have people who will help me up - but I want to make sure everyone knows that about our club, because Macs is a community that has lost a few young ones to suicide over the years.”
More than 30 locals joined the workshop, from the Club’s President and life members in their late 60s, to nine year old Nippers and members of the ‘MOB’, the Macs Own Boardriders who had lost 20 year old clubmate Logan to suicide.
“It was a really powerful, raw, emotional experience and so well done. You could see everyone’s minds opening up. The understanding that everyone has a different perspective was huge - that even though we are looking at the same thing, we see it differently.
It helped people build new social connections too - another important building block of mental fitness.
“A couple that had just moved to the area came along to learn how to support their kids in their 20s. They got that, but they got to meet people within the club that they wouldn’t have otherwise met too,” Nadine said.
“Everyone there was blown away by the impact of the workshop and got this beautiful sense of community, and that’s the whole point.”
It’s motivation the crew at ‘Macs’ will take into this year’s 24 Hour Row.
After the number of rowers climbed from 50 in 2022 to 80 last year, this year’s Row at ‘Macs’ is set to be even bigger, with MOB board riders joining the SLS clubbies.
And that means more funds for more workshops.
“The Row and the workshop showed we’re a club that’s open to everyone to come and be in a safe space and that resonated with the whole community.
“That idea of looking out for each other, I love that. I love that we’re building that in our community with workshops and the Row.”
