CENTENARY SERIES 5 & 6

To think that the 1950s started with a fatal plane crash on Maroochydore Beach on 30 December 1950 – 3 lives lost, many serious injuries, but our Lifesavers performed brilliantly in the crisis.

And there watching the tragedy unfold, was our first-ever ‘Cadet’ member, RON PARTON, now deceased, a Life Member, and stalwart of the Club.

But despite a shocking start, the 1950s saw Maroochydore SLSC really find its feet as a gun patrolling outfit and a rising force in competition. Noel ‘Cheon’ Hawthorn became our first State Champion Boat Sweep in 1952, Graham ‘Asho’ Ashton our first Surf Board State Champion in 1955, and by 1959 future Olympian John Rigby was Maroochydore’s first Australian Surf Championships Gold Medallist.

The 1960s brought not only our first ‘Golden Era’ in surf competition, but excellence in surf patrol efficiency. Under the leadership of people like Doug Webster , Bard Claffey OAM and Stan Wilcox OAM, the 1960s saw an all-round performance that forever placed Maroochydore SLSC at the forefront. Later generations were to take that legacy on to greater heights as more opportunities opened up, but more of that later.

It is fair to say that Maroochydore dominated Surf Life Saving competition on the national stage from 1960 to 1965 with its swimmers and boat crews. Then many left to get married and have families! No Masters stuff in those days!

The 1970s saw a Club struggling with great changes in Australian society. Since the late 1960s Boardriding had posed a ‘threat’ to surf life saving numbers. But Maroochydore was more nimble than most surf clubs: Kerry Taylor, Ian Jobson, Mal Pratt, Buzz Taylor and others stood in both camps, and thanks to them our Surf Lifesaving traditions continued through a tough decade.

It was definitely the decade of the ‘characters’. Membership was still all-male, though the Association was under increasing pressure to admit women to membership. This was the last decade of the all-weekend patrol, cooked chook raffles at the local pubs, and bonding sessions round a 5 gallon keg in the boat shed on Saturday nights.

You could say that the 1980 Aussie Championships at Maroochydore, and the admission of women to membership later in 1980, changed everything. You could say it, and you would be right.

The 1980 Maroochydore ‘Aussies’ were declared the ‘best-ever’ by the sports writers of the day. This success and the rebuilding that came with it propelled Maroochydore into its modern era of achievement. Our ‘Aussies’ of 1980 is remembered by older Clubbies, all over Australia, as a wonderful 3 days. The club, as Hosts, left no stone unturned to put on a great show. The weather was perfect and the surf was testing but moderate.

Despite the misgivings of a few, Maroochydore embraced the admission of women to its ranks in 1981 – and the seasons since then tell us how successful that has been. Maroochydore has led the way in the promotion of women to leadership roles, with only the positions of President and Deputy President yet to be filled by a woman. I am sure we will see that soon, and in the meantime women have taken their rightful place in everything our great Club does.

After the years of achievement, change and growth of the early to mid-1980s, no-one could have predicted the ‘glory days’ of the 1990s and 2000s.

Between 1982 and 1987 Maroochydore Nippers – the ‘Cygnets’ – were State Champions for the first time. This set a platform for a huge decade in 1990s Surf Lifesaving competition and produced our first Olympic Champion in 1992.

But there was a lot more going on – we began an ‘open beach’ patrolling system in 1982 under then Club Captain Brett Williamson OAM. The system was innovative for its day, taking advantage of improving IRB technology, an expanding radio network and four wheel drive mobility.

Maroochydore SLSC was also the inaugural State IRB Champion Team under Neil Dalziel in 1986. In the same year Cathy Norman was crowned ‘Miss Surf Girl’. We hosted a very successful 1986 State Championships and had a great Aussies in South Australia. Notably, a certain Clint Robinson won his first of 36 Aussie Championships in Perth in 1987 – a run which continued until 2008 – think about it, 20 years an Aussies Champion. Will anyone ever do better than that? Well, Clint himself did -as an Olympian.

The 1980s finished with Maroochydore the ‘Buhk-Wilkes Shield’ winners for Patrol Efficiency at a Sunshine Coast Branch level. The club of excellence in patrolling and in competition – last seen in the 1960s – had returned under Club Captain Bryan King and Club President John Rigby. The only direction was up.

The 1990s started with Olympic Gold in Barcelona for an 18 year old boy from the Sunny Coast, and our surf club! Our celebration at home with Clint’s mum Desley was beamed around the world. Was there ever a happier night in our club?

By now, the professional Club operation had been passed from Bard Claffey OAM (1978-1987) to Kerry Taylor (1987-2013). Kerry’s 25 years in the CEO role just happened to be arguably the best 25 years that our club has seen.

You could also say that those 25 years saw a string of great Presidents – Wilcox, Stone, Kelly, Dwyer, Ryan. They really set the tone of success, in Lifesaving first and foremost, in community engagement, in competition, in leadership at Branch and State level.

World Surf Life Saving Club Championships were ours in 2000 (Sydney) and 2002 (Florida) – such a highlight for the modern era.

A towering figure in this time was Glynn Topfer OAM – Team Manager, Administrator, Constitutional expert, and friend to many young members. Glynn contributed 20 great years at the top, as did Treasurer Peter Carroll. Victoria Berry (nee Stone) served for 10 years in the roles of Club Treasurer, Club Captain and Chief Training Officer.

And so we come to a great tragedy: the loss of young Ironman Matty Barclay in March 2012 caused such grief and sadness, as did our loss of another young Maroochydore Champion and Ironman Robbie Thomasson in 1996. On both sad occasions our Club came together to support our grieving families and to support each other. They are forever remembered, along with Ryan Abdy, another young champion Surf Board rider taken too soon.

Once again our Cygnets dominated State Nipper contests in the period to 2016, winning 3 and only losing the others by a point or two. This Nipper success underpinned another ‘Golden Era’ for our Senior Club team in the years following our 2016 Centenary.

Our Centenary Season 2015-16 was truly one to remember, with events and occasions too numerous to mention. Club President Steve Wieland and his Team have every right to be proud of their Centenary year. But what club in its Centenary Season gets to co-host the Aussies with its near neighbouring clubs? What an event, what an honour, what a buzz. And to have our 2016 Aussies declared -again – the ‘best ever’, just like in 1980, that is an honour we can all share in.

So, there we were on 01 January 2016, privileged to celebrate a great legacy stretching back to 1916. Maroochydore SLSC proudly celebrated the achievement of over 100 years’ voluntary service to the public.