Portreath Surf Lifesaving Club is thrilled to have received a grant from Sport England’s Movement Fund for just over £13,000. With this funding we are purchasing five new transition boards and three new ICON Sport surf skis and paddles. The transition boards will be a boost for our 12-13s and free up nipper boards for our younger Nippers. The more stable ‘Sport’ model adds the best possible equipment into the club house to enable less-confident members of both our masters and youth teams to develop their paddling skills in Portreath’s frequently challenging conditions.
We received the first three transition boards in time for the National Nipper Championships at Holywell Bay this August, and our lucky Nippers were very excited to see the brand new green boards and start competing on them straight away. With a big team of over 80 young athletes regularly training with Portreath SLSC, we now have new equipment that will enable training and competing at the highest level. The club encourages everyone to enter competitions and have a go, and we made sure everyone got in at least one team event. Some of our Nippers were chasing their first medal or defending a podium spot. For others just overcoming their nerves and getting around the course in challenging surf conditions was a big achievement. The club came away with an amazing 2nd overall which is a huge achievement for everyone who competed as well as the team managers, coaches and parent helpers. Clearly those new boards have found a good home and are going to bring even more success in future.
The order for the skis will go in soon and we hope to have them in time for some winter paddling.
Here are the new boards on the podium at Holywell Bay.
