Pacific Surf Lifesaving Club at Palm Beach, Gold Coast named best in Australia
WHEN Pacific Surf Lifesaving Club opened its doors in 1946 there were just a handful of members who had just returned home from war.
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PACIFIC Surf Lifesaving Club is the second smallest on the Gold Coast and it’s been named the country’s best.
The tiny Palm Beach club is hidden down a long driveway off the Gold Coast Hwy on a small beachfront block valued at just $5 million.
On Saturday night the club went up against the country’s best, some boasting large headquarters worth tens of millions of dollars, but came out on top.
BURLEIGH HEADS SURF CAM
President Kevin Schofield, who joined the club as a teenager 31 years ago, said the secret to success was a “grassroots” approach to surf lifesaving.
“We are one of the only clubs in Queensland to not have pokies or a licensed bar and bistro,” he said.
“It’s not a path we want to go down, we fundraise, have raffles and rent the clubhouse out for functions to make money — the grassroots stuff.
“In the past 12 months we have increased our membership by 31 per cent with a focus on recruitment and community involvement.
“Five years ago we put a plan in place to lift the club to the level it is today.
“In that time we have been active in the community, working with the police, the council and disadvantage youth.
“We have started the Seahorse Nippers program at our club also, which caters for children with special needs.”
When the club was founded in 1946 it had just a handful of members who had returned from the war and defected from the nearby Palm Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.
Pacific’s youth development officer, Hayley Bowers, said the judging panel took a keen interest in the club’s decision not to install poker machines.
“Myself and Kevin fronted the judging panel for the interview and they asked us a lot of questions, particularly about our future,” she said.
“They asked if we felt pressured to have poker machines or bars, especially being a smaller club in the middle of two larger ones.
“But we told them it wasn’t a road we want to go down, we don’t ever plan to do that, we use the members and the community to fund us.”
Mermaid Beach Surf Life Saving Club, with more than 850 members, took out best club in 2015, while Secret Harbour in WA won it in 2014.
“We have worked hard to get the club to where it is and will continue to grow,” Mr Schofield said.
“It is our 70th anniversary year, so the party will go on for some time.”