DAY OF BEACH CARNIVAL
You are welcome to join the Black Rock LSC at any age with the youngest members being able to join in the U6 Nippers age group, aged 5 years.
BLACK ROCK
Day of the Carnival
Prior to each Carnival you will have registered the events your child is planning to compete in with the Junior Competition Manager. Registration will usually close a few days before the event is run.
It is a good idea to explore the website of the club hosting the Carnival. They usually include directions and sometimes even parking tips for events. Look for the information they post about the day they are planning. Links to each club are to the left of this article.
On the day of the carnival, please note the below points:
Leave plenty of time to park, walk to the beach, go back to the car for the things that were forgotten the first time and normally to find the toilets. Getting there early helps enormously!
Bring a Back Pack with a towel, Sun Hat, warm clothes, snacks, sunscreen, goggles, a bottle of water and anything else you think they will need. Don’t worry if things are forgotten – there are usually spares available and the team at Black Rock work together to help everyone on the day.
Sometimes the weather does close in and it can get quite cold. If you are going to be competing all season, it may be worthwhile purchasing a special swimming coat that will keep you child warm.
What Happens When I Get There?
When you arrive, someone has usually or is soon to erect the Club marquee which is Blue and has the club name across the front. You are welcome to leave your belongings under the Marquee which is shared by all Black Rock Members, Parents and their Families.
When you arrive, one of the parents will write the age category on the Junior Competitors Arm and Leg in Black Marker.
You child will be asked to follow a Flag which represents their Age Group as follows:
U8 Red
U9 Purple/Marooon
U10 Yellow
U11 White
U12 Dark Blue
U13 Green
U14 Black
The Children will be asked to form lines for each separate club and will then be allocated a heat number. This ensures that each heat has a spread of competitors from each club. Once they have that Number, they will participate in that heat for the remainder of the day for individual events. Parents will be asked to take charge of each of the Heat Groups and will assist in marshalling that group to the starting line for their events for the remainder of the day. A well run carnival will be finished after lunch sometime.
For Team Events, if there are not enough competitors to make up a club team, you can usually find another club who only has 2 or 3 team members themselves and you can then join up with them. Whilst the club does not get points for mixed teams, it gives the kids a great experience and these events can be lots of fun.
How Can Parents Help at Carnivals
Volunteer to transportation of the ClubYou will need to also take the trolley.
Register as an official (you can do this course online at the Life Saving Victoria Website).
Register to Participate as a Water Safety Officer (you need to do your bronze for this)
Volunteer to lead your child’s heat (kids just love it when you do this one)
Volunteer to be the Black Rock Age Manager for your group ( preferable to have done the Age Managers training for this)
Get Water Safety Qualified – attend our training at end Nov/Early Dec. Remember this can help at both regular Nippers training (because only 5 Nippers can be in the water for each 1 water safety qualified adult) as well as at Carnivals. Each club has to provide certain numbers of Water Safety and Officials depending on the number of Competitors they enter on the day.
Cheer other Team Members on.
Help out other Black Rock families as required.
Kids love it when you get involved.
Team Managers Handbook
If you want to get hold of the Carnival 11/12 season Age Manager’s Manual, you can down load it from Life Saving Victoria. This is a handy reference tool and also provides all the programs for each carnival for the season.
