• Activities commence at 8:45 am each Sunday. However, some conditions may prevent normal operations. If so, you will be notified by TeamApp. We start early to get the kids out of the sun before the hottest part of the day.
  • All children must have their name printed clearly on their competition (club) skull caps and all other items of clothing (t-shirts, shorts, etc.).
  • Announcements and important information for Nippers and parents is communicated at the start of the day by our Age Managers. Please be on time and listen to announcements so that you are aware and up to date with all matters concerning your children.
  • Under the control of their Age Managers, the children participate in several events. Depending on their age and competency, activities may be on the beach or in the water.
  • At the end of the day’s events, children must have their names marked off the roll and remove their skull caps. This assists the Patrol on duty as children wearing skull caps are assumed to be under the supervision of an Age Manager.

As a parent or guardian, you are always REQUIRED to be at the beach during Sunday activities. Your child remains your responsibility. Medication, trips to the toilet and the individual general welfare of each child on Newport Beach is the responsibility of the parent or guardian. Nippers is NOT a child-minding program.

To give you a brief idea of what happens on the beach, there are:

  • beach races
  • running over a set distance on the sand (50m - 70m depending on age)
  • flags
  • lying flat on the sand, then getting up and running a short distance to grasp lengths of hose standing in the sand
  • beach relays
  • teams of four run a relay over similar distances to the beach
  • surf wade
  • running through the shallow water around a heavily supervised course (usually for younger age groups)

In the water events

(for U9 and above age groups only where the children have met certain proficiencies) there are:

  • Surf swims - swimming from the beach, around a "U" shaped course 80 metres long, and back again
  • Board races - similar to the surf swim, but paddling boards around the course
  • Run/swim/run - a race combining two sprints along the beach separated by a swim leg
  • Iron Woman/Iron Man - a race involving running on the sand, swimming and paddling a board around a set course
  • Board relay - a team paddles their boards in turn around the course
  • Board rescue - one competitor swims out to a buoy then the next competitor paddles the boards to them, picks them up and paddles back to the beach

After Nippers there's always the BBQ with food and drinks for sale.