Riegers children part of surf club explosion

By Yvette Wakelin
Splashing about in the waves in Mount Maunganui's pristine waters is second nature for the Rieger family - as seems to be the case for a growing number of other Western Bay youngsters.
New figures show the Mount Maunganui brood are among hundreds of budding junior surf lifesavers taking to the beach in a bid to patrol our shores.
In fact, the Riegers - including dad Greg, mum Donna, Oliver, 11, Fergus, 9, Hamish,7, and Eliza-Jane, 4, - "live, breath and sleep" lifesaving.
Mount Maunganui Surf Lifesaving Club under-14 team manager Greg Rieger said his children all belong to the club and consider lifesaving their favourite pastime.
"We all really enjoy it - it's really a lot of fun.
``It's something we can do together as a family," he said.,p>While her children's enjoyment was also high on her list of priorities, Mrs Rieger, who has recently been appointed the assistant manager of the five and six-year-olds' squad, said it was also important they knew the beach.
"We pretty much live at the beach during summer so the kids need to be able to swim and recognise rips and understand the dangers."
Latest figures show that during the past five years, 3557 places have been held by five to 13-year-olds in the Mount Maunganui, Omanu, Papamoa and Waihi Beach clubs.
Last season alone, 858 youngsters represented the Bay - up 260 from numbers recorded four years earlier.
It is predicted interest in the sport will continue to climb.
Bay of Plenty Surf Lifesaving chief executive Nigel Cox said: "the season has just started - but I can say we are expecting similar numbers to last year and even a slight increase."
He believed the fact that lifesaving taught youth both water and beach skills was not the only reason for the increase in junior surf lifesaving numbers.
"Maybe it's a mixture of kids bringing their friends along with them and word-of-mouth - we haven't done a big advertising campaign or anything. It's all just sort of exploded."
Mr Cox indicated the sport's steadily rising profile, which included television coverage of locally run competitions, was "surely a catalyst".
"Watching it all on TV or going down to the beach on a Sunday morning and seeing 200 or 300 young kids running around is definitely a big contributor."
Omanu Club director of surf lifesaving, Jason Carswell, said interest in gaining a place on the junior squad had gone through the roof.
"There's been quite a bit of interest from both parents and their children - it's phenomenal.
"More and more people are becoming involved."
In recent years, he said parents keen on ensuring their children had a place at Omanu, which catered for about 300 junior surf members each season, tried to book their children into the programme years in advance.
"There was one woman who tried to register her one-year-old, about four years early."
Mount Maunganui director of surf lifesaving Chris Blockley agreed, saying the Mount Maunganui club was incredibly popular with wannabe surf lifesavers - leading management to limit registrations to 250 this year.
"The programme is designed to be delivered effectively to about a certain number."
Any more and it could compromise safety, he said.
"We need to have one coach for five children and that can be difficult when you have many more than 250 kids."
Chief executive Mr Cox said while it tended to be youth taking up the sport, the region's four clubs were also experiencing boosts with the active rookie programme.
The programme aimed to train people aged 14 years and over as lifeguards through mentoring.
"There has been a lot of interest from older kids and young adults wanting to become part of surf lifesaving and patrol our beaches."
Fortunately, he said the rise in the sport's popularity meant there were dozens of qualified surf lifesavers ready and waiting to patrol beaches.
And while it was the kids who tended to take part in the beach activities, Mr Cox said their parents also played a big part in their development.
"It's a family arrangement - obviously someone needs to coach the kids so it's generally mum and dad who help out and they often become coaches.
"We tend to bring the kids down to the beach because you want them to be aware of the beach environment and getting involved in surf lifesaving is a great way for them to learn and get their water confidence."