2011 Annual Dinner

USLSC celebrated the 2011 Annual Dinner and Awards Night at the club on Saturday, 7th May. Special guests included the Mayor Jan Bonde and local Councillors Philip Viney and Amanda Diprose. All of the major service and competition awards were announced during the evening as well as the "less-coveted" novelty awards.

The Best Club Person award was taken out by "youngster" Chris Jacobson who upstaged some more seasoned rivals to capture his first award. Chris has been an excellent worker this season, particularly in the area of lifesaving and patrol and his contribution was widely acknowledged by the membership. The Most Improved Club person trophy was won by long-time member and former national board champion Charlene Best who added further to her already busy coaching schedule this past year, by taking on a coaching role with the state team. All our Tasmanian representatives will benefit immensely from her input and knowledge. The prestigious Dot Wilson Patrol Award was taken out by Mike Holland who now has four of these highly prized awards to his name. Mike is a tireless patrolling member and one of the first to put up his hand and cover for people who cannot meet their own roster committments. The final service award, the Best U15-U19 Club person was presented to Laura Wood who capped off an impressive competiton season by contributing across a broad cross-section of club activities. Click here for photos

In the competition area, the Charlene Best Open Female Competitior shield was won by Abby Chapman, while brother Hamish Chapman was successful in the corresponding Open Male division, collecting the John McIver shield. Both have won these awards previously and they again represented the club with distinction in season 2010-11. In U19 ranks, our winners were Hannah Best and Jordan Lynd, both of whom had outstanding seasons. Hannah's win made it a trifecta for the Best family, with her sisters Elka and Holli tying for first place in the female Junior Champion Competitior award .

As mentioned above, our novelty awards are not quite as sought after as some of the others on offer but nonetheless, some new names will be appearing on the Goose of the Year and White Gloves trophies. Our "Goose" for this season was Eloise Crocker, carrying on the proud tradition established by father Steve in previous years. Eloise gained her award after a verbal mix-up when she was working in the bar and asked a patron for "some help with her jugs." Feel free to get the full story from Eloise. The White Gloves award for the boaties has gone to Boat Captain Luke Viney after his tattoo efforts and some "wet ink" meant he couldn't compete for a number of days!

On the evening of Saturday February 4th, a relaxed group of surf club members & friends gathered on the sands of Ulverstone beach to witness the launching of the newest addition to the surf boat fleet.

In memory of one of Ulverstone Surf Club's true characters, the TW "Polly" Good was christened in the only true way it could be a traditional Long Neck - the only form of beer available at the surf club through it's halcyon years - was poured across the bow by Jenny & Zane Good. It was (and is) a fitting tribute to Polly and the boat crew is looking forward to extending the new boat to its full potential in the remaining races of this season & beyond

National Award:

More than 250 guests were on hand to honour Surf Life Saving’s best and bravest at the 2010 SLSA Awards of Excellence, held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday night, 21st August and it was our own Graeme Rollins that took centre stage.

Fresh from his 2010 USLSC "Best Club Person of the Year" and his regional "Tasmanian Volunteer of the Year" Award at the Tasmanian Awards of Excellence night on the 23rd July, Rolly completed the trifecta by taking out the prestigious "Australian Volunteer of the Year" award. This extract from the SLSA webpage goes a very small way towards highlighting the contribution that Rolly has made to to our club and the lifesaving movement in general.

"In honour of his outstanding contribution to Ulverstone Surf Life Saving Club in Tasmania, Graeme Rollins took out the DHL Volunteer of the Year award. Rollins has been a key member of Ulverstone SLSC for over 26 years, and has led the advancement of education and mentoring within the club."

Surf Life Saving Australia CEO, Brett Williamson OAM, paid tribute to all the award winners on the night and the important role all surf lifesavers play in keeping our beaches safe.

“The Awards of Excellence is a great opportunity to honour those surf lifesavers, administrators, athletes, coaches and surf life saving clubs who work tirelessly to keep our beaches safe throughout the year.

“All of the winners here tonight have made a significant contribution to Surf Life Saving, whether that be at a club, state or national level. I congratulate all of them for their commitment and hard work,” said Williamson.