Clubbies who surf: a conflict of interest?

[Trev]

Speaking of conflicts..............Wow!
This should take the topic to a whole new level.

[pridmore]

****, wow, thats harsh you cokcsucking pusssbucket.....I know its rediculous but it stems from the old stories about the clubbies vs the surfers, guess its been embedded into me from my grommy days when there were plenty of clashes...never said it was right, just said I didnt ....

but you are right, I would want them to save my son, or anyone for that matter...think their services are valueable for sure, the government should fund them better, doesnt seem right to have to ask for donations on the street.....yep, I was wrong, still dont like clubbies but.....

- here's another personal experience about clubbies which may help you understand why I dont like em...at the beach with my kids at Turners beach Yamba, a beach thats patrolled only on school hols...I saw a young Aboriginal boy in trouble in the rip along the rocks ( this rip can get strong and is often a trouble spot for kids or unkowing touros ), I ran down and swam out to grab him, he was in real trouble, mouthful of water coughing and spluttering, really panicked, people high on the rocks were watching and yelling out to see if he was ok, his parents were nowhere to be seen, I got him to the beach and he was calming down a little but shaking full on and still coughing and a few spews too...I asked where ya mUm is and he didnt know...I asked around and eventusllay found his Mum who had absolutely no clue he was even missing, when I told her what had happened, she got really mad at him, threatening to smack him and grabbed him and get really pissed at him....I then walked up to where the clubbies where sitting and asked them if they saw anything that had just happened, they were totally oblivious, several other bystanders had come over and joined me in telling them about the situation that had just occurred...they were sitting in their car on the side of the beach so they could listen to the radio in the clubbie car and listening to the races and placing bets on their phones...the beach had about 100 people on it and this is who was supervising them, and with the rips and surf the way it was, it really needed someonw to be watching the crowd...this kid may well have dies that day, it scared me and farked with my head a bit for a while....I know we need clubbies but we dont need these wankkers....

[TMC]

No thanks, I'd rather never give anything to those megalomaniacal TrevG's... They'd probably just spend it on their 50th surf ski, or weights set, or full scale mirrors for the change rooms...

Yeah I just hate ar$eholes who spend half a day a month standing on the beach making sure people don't die.

[Haz]

No one here has said anything bad against what they're meant to do. It's just sad that most of them are upper class wankers who care about competition and social status more than saving people.

[alakaboo]

Yeah I just hate ar$eholes who spend half a day a month standing on the beach making sure people don't die.

If your swimming skills are anything like your surfing, I can understand you'd want them to be around. Especially when paddling out in waves over 2 foot.

[crabmeat thompson]

The problem with clubbies is; you can have a hundred who are salt of the earth types and save lives and do nothing but good.

... but you get just one prick - like what MP just described - who gives them all a bad name.

[TMC]

Fortunately my swimming skills far exceed my ability to surf the fatbat. Banga, you will find it pretty hard to find volunteers to man the beaches without the competition side, also did you notice how most of the events vagely mimic the skills required to be a life saver?

[buzzy]

By and large clubbies do a good job. Having said that I've had many occasions at popular metro beaches where council and clubby surf lifesavers have done nothing. Like end of last summer at Bondi one evening when a Japanese swimmer was paddling in through a rip right in front of the Council lifeguard tower and asked me for help to get back in. I had him hang onto my board and frog kicked him (and me) to the beach, waving my arms above my head for help from the Bondi rescue heroes. who (benevolent appracoh) never saw me and him frog kicking the 50 or so metres back to shore against the rip (I used to swim breast stroke at state level so I'm a good swimmer!) or (less benevolent approach) saw me dealing with him and thought they'd leave it to the mug punter getting in an afterwork surf to do the rescues they're paid to do. Lots of similar stories, sadly.

Not that I have anything against rescuing people.

As for the surfer v clubby thing I definitely understand. There was a real hatred back in the day. If you weren't there then you probably won't get it. There's nothing like the old school division now.

[Haz]

Yeah alright, competition keeps em motivated... But that doesn't excuse clubs asking for donations so they can buy their 50th surf ski or send 100 kids to queensland for a couple of days of ridiculous over the top competition... If there's a line between staying motivated and going completely over the top, most clubs have stepped over it by about 200000000 metres. If I donated I would want the money to go to saving people, not fcuking around sending spoilt shits to queensland to do this shit;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU360AR_6mY

[TMC]

Most skis and racing boards are privately owned, or at least they were at my club. All the small foam boards the nippers use are owned by the club, but surely this is a way of attracting people to the club from a young age, club development, blah blah blah. It seems like your very opinionated on something you know fuuck all about.

[Trev]

The problem with clubbies is; you can have a hundred who are salt of the earth types and save lives and do nothing but good.

... but you get just one prick - like what MP just described - who gives them all a bad name.

That pretty much sums it up.
There's a percentage of board riding club members who don't do their club's reputation any good either.

[Chillin]

Darren O'Rafferty is a council lifeguard, I'm pretty sure he surfs OK. A few of the local clubbies surf but none of em are 'surfers' so to speak. More power to the volunteers though, they do a mighty job of saving the arses of those with little or no surf sence.

[Haz]

Most skis and racing boards are privately owned, or at least they were at my club. All the small foam boards the nippers use are owned by the club, but surely this is a way of attracting people to the club from a young age, club development, blah blah blah. It seems like your very opinionated on something you know fuuck all about.

Mate I was in a club from when I was 10 til only about 3 years ago and my girlfriend's dad was a vice-president of a very well known club from down here, I know the general idea of how much money the bigger clubs crap out...

Probably should have said this at the start, but my attack is directed at the bigger surf life saving clubs out there, the ones that manage to spend money on cafes, bunk rooms, 7 day bronze camps and other frivolous shit, whereas the smaller clubs manage to do just fine on the bare essentials...

I'm all for donating to these smaller clubs, they definitely need it and they're usually a decent bunch of people. But Torquay? Ocean Grove? Manly? Fcuk off.

[alakaboo]

I think in general you should be able to dictate where your donations go within an organisation.
e.g.
"Sure, Careflight, I'll support your rescue helicopter. On the condition that you don't rescue any dumbarse frenchwoman around-the-world sailors two years in a row"*
"Sure, Rural Fire Brigade Service, I'll help buy you a new truck. On the condition that you institute psych testing to weed out all the arsonists."
"Sure, Christian Aid Organisation, I'll support you to feed the hungry in Africa. But you have to feed the muslims too."
"Sure, Cancer Council, I'll support your research. But I don't want any of my money going to support smokers with lung, larynx or throat cancer"
"Sure, SLSA, I'll help you buy a new rescue jetski. But if it ever endangers a surfer then I get the deed to your clubhouse.That's right, the big flash one with the convention centre and restaurant with the clubs supported by pokies."

This should probably go in the controversial opinions thread, but it's degenerated enough in here to fit...

*I know it wasn't actually Careflight...artistic licence.

[oldman]

AJ, thanks for reminding me why I don't bother surfing maroubra on weekends any more.

[Lard Lad]

volunteers, of any kind in any pursuit, are deadest legends......

the rest of you complaining about people that volunteer their time are a simply stain on society......

pridmore, everything i've ever read that you've posted, would in my humble opinion, put you in the stain category, you try hard o2 thief.......

[pridmore]

just another internet tuff guy....plenty of them ...your opinion counts for zero to me...

[ajohnsen]

AJ, thanks for reminding me why I don't bother surfing maroubra on weekends any more.

Don't blame you, Olds. Summer down the Nasho, I reckon.