2011_SLSNZ_SurfRescueMag

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FEATURE:
Tolaga Bay
“ Our kids don’t see
rowing or surf sports and
you’d never get them
into speedos – they don’t
identify with that side of
surf lifesaving – so we’ve
got to bring in the water
sports that they do and
identify with.”
REGAN FAIRLIE
ALL ABOUT WHANAU: TOLAGA BAY LOCALS KEREHAMA BLACKMAN (LEFT) AND REGAN FAIRLIE HAVE BEEN LEADING A SURF
LIFESAVING REVIVAL IN THE EAST COAST SETTLEMENT THROUGH SOME INNOVATIVE RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES.
PHOTO: JAMIE TROUGHTON/DSCRIBE JOURNALISM
Now a couple of keen locals have taken up the
challenge. Kerehama Blackman, 33, and 32-year-old
Regan Fairlie are determined to rebuild the club back
up to its heyday in the late 1980s, when they had
more than 30 active members.
And in true East Coast style, they’re bringing their
own spin to how a surf club should work in their
community.
Skis and canoes? Nope. The club has just got
funding to buy a handful of new stand-up paddle
boards. Fairlie grew up surfing in and around
Tokomaru Bay and knows this coast intimately.
He’s an accomplished waterman - who could
probably go to sea on a strainer post with a pair of
crutching shears as paddles – and points out there’s
a good reason they’re putting their faith in the SUP
movement.
“Our kids are right into waka ama and it’s a nice
transition from waka ama to stand-up, then into
surfing and surf lifesaving,” Fairlie explains. “Our kids
don’t see rowing or surf sports and you’d never get
them into speedos – they don’t identify with that side
of surf lifesaving – so we’ve got to bring in the water
sports that they do identify with.”
Burly Blackman, a combative former lock for Ngati
Porou East Coast who still plays for the local Uawa
Rugby Club, admits they’ve had to get cunning to
attract interest to their surf ambitions.
Instead of rocking up to the rugby club with our surf
lifesaving hats on, we’ve joined the rugby team and
got ourselves in a position to put surf lifesaving on the
table as part of their off-season training,” Blackman
said. “The fullas had visions of lying on the beach in
speedos but once they got down there and started
some surf training, they had nothing but respect for
the sport.”
For the first time in nearly two decades, surf lifesaving
in Tolaga Bay is on the rise again, with Blackman
crediting Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s Groundswell
Project as playing a major part.
“From when we first started three years ago, it was
just talk around the table. We were in survival mode
with a two-man committee. We’re now educating in
the school, running programmes after school, helping
out at community events and we’re just trying to fly
our colours anywhere. Our view is that our whanau
don’t want to compete but they want to be active so
we’re trying to get activities going for them under the
club umbrella.
ON THE RISE: THE NEXT GENERATION OF
TOLAGA BAY SURF ATHLETES TRY OUT THEIR NEW
STAND-UP PADDLE BOARDS. PHOTO: TOLAGA
BAY SURF CLUB
“That’s why Groundswell was good for us because
we were able to change things to suit our community.
What works in the urban areas doesn’t necessarily
work in the rural areas.”