The annual What’s SUP (Stand Up Paddle Board) event for young people who are blind or have low vision returned to Ettalong Beach on January 17.
Hosted by Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, the event involves young people from Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast and includes SUP lessons, SUP yoga, beach games and the option to learn how to play SUP Ball.
Bombora Ettalong Beach SUP has been hosting the event for the past five years.
Spokesperson Karl Herman said the day was a huge success.
“We started off at around 10am with a safety talk for our volunteers from Ocean Beach Surf Life Saving Club and the community,” he said.
“It’s important to make sure everyone understands the importance of describing things to people with low vision.
“There was a lot of information on basic things like telling them how to hold the paddle and feel their way around the board; it was all about how to communicate properly.
“Once the participants arrived we had a tutorial on how to paddle on beach, the same as we do with customers with vision.
“But we had to go through a lot more detail on feeling the board and leg ropes, moving hands along board to find the right place to put your feet and so on.
“Then we broke the participants up into groups of about five and took them out on the water to get them paddling.
“We had volunteers walking alongside them, getting them paddling on their knees first and then standing up.
“Once they were comfortable with that he had someone paddling alongside them.”
Herman said once the young people were up on the boards, they needed only a little input on direction.
Herman said the club became involved when a friend of his, who worked for Guide Dogs, told him about the program,
“I was really keen to get involved,” he said.
But I was quite nervous at first about how they would go; I hadn’t had any experience working with blind or low vision people and I was a bit sceptical about how they would take to it.
“But the big thing I have learned is how capable these people are as long as things are described properly and they have appropriate guidance.
“In fact, they are often more in tune with the feel of the board than fully sighted people.
“A lot of sighted people tense up when they see a wave coming but people who are blind or have low vision tend to move with the wave.”
The day also included an on-board yoga session.
“We run these on Sunday mornings for our regular members,” Herman said.
“The boards are anchored in the water and our instructor takes participants through a yoga routine.”
Herman said volunteers from Ocean Beach Surf Club were invaluable on the day, lending a hand to keep everyone safe both in the water and on the beach and giving instruction on water safety.
Ettalong Diggers have also helped us out a lot,” he said.
“We have participants coming from Newcastle and Sydney and some of them arrive by train.
“Diggers has been very helpful in providing its mini bus to pick up and drop off people at Woy Woy station.
“It really is a true community day and we usually have more volunteers than we need, which is fantastic.
“It’s just a great event all ‘round.
“The people who participate don’t get a lot of opportunity to do things like that and they love it; they get right into it.
“Siblings often come along and enjoy the day too.”
For the volunteers, Herman said, the event was just as satisfying.
“It’s great to work with these people; it teaches all of us what they can achieve,” he said.
The Bombora Ettalong Beach SUP runs all year, with regular paddles and fitness classes and a membership of 25-30.
Terry Collins