Girl’s Surf Camp

YMCA Victoria – Girl’s Surf Camp

“My child has definitely done a health check with her diet! She came back with a very positive attitude, and I would not hesitate to send her to the next camp. Just a fantastic positive outcome.”(Parent)

Physical literacy outcomes

YMCA Victoria – Girl’s Surf Camp helped children develop across all four domains of  physical literacy– physical, psychological, social and cognitive.

PHYSICAL

• Land based (yoga, stretching, walking) and water based (snorkelling, swimming, surfing) activities provided holistic physical development across most physical literacy elements.
• The girls’ surfing skills improved, particularly in the following elements:
  • Moving with equipment – use of arms and legs to move a surf board in water
  • Reaction time, strength, power and coordination – to ‘take-off’ and catch a wave
  • Stability/balance, strength and agility – to stay on the wave.

PSYCHOLOGICAL

• Confidence – the progression of different activities provided the opportunity to improve confidence in both surfing skills and being active in the water.
• Self-regulation (emotions) – participants reported their ability to self-regulate their emotions (nervousness) was due to:
  • feeling encouraged and supported by both the participant group and instructors
  • learning skills and ‘tips’ to surf and understand the water
• Connection to place – the camp engaged participants in the surfing culture and community, including visits to different surf locations and interaction with the local surf club and surf store.

“I enjoyed having the surf lesson with the instructor, he made me feel confident in the water, and everyone was very encouraging which made the camp great.” (Participant – 15 years)

SOCIAL

• Relationships - positive relationships and social connections were developed between the participants themselves, between participants and instructors, and participants and the wider surfing community.
• Relationships - participants were encouraged by the instructors to support each other – this created a safe space to learn and improve their surfing skills.
• Collaboration - the ‘camp style’ program provided opportunity for participants to work collaboratively on tasks such as cooking, cleaning and during ‘free time’.

“I loved being in the water and knowing everyone around me was encouraging me and also having lots of fun.”(Participant – 13 years)

COGNITIVE

• Perceptual awareness – quickly recognising where their body needs to on the board to successfully catch a wave
• Content knowledge – around how to move and be successful at surfing
• Reasoning – behind eating well and why this is important when surfing
• Strategy and planning – about where to paddle and the best way to catch a wave
• Safety and risk – by visiting different surfing locations and discussing water conditions, increasing their knowledge and safety and also building the likelihood to return to those locations after the camp.

“Getting tips and lots of help and also having others encouraging and learning as well.”(Participant – 13 years)

Key findings

1

The program’s success was supported by having: > qualified and knowledgeable instructors to answer questions and talk about the ‘thinking’ behind surfing > a camp style program that allowed for a holistic approach to learn about health eating, healthy mind and how these affect surfing performance.

2

The social group connections were critical to supporting the girls to learn with each other while at camp and also create a group that they could go surfing with in the future.

3

Parent sessions at the end of the camp greatly improved parents’ confidence and increased their support for their child to continue surfing.

4

Surf instructors developed their physical literacy by being role models and key supporters to promote surfing (self-Perception). They emphasised that the girls were now part of the surf community.

“She’s passionate about surfing and keen to participate. Feels confident in her ability to be able to surf. Passionate too to go surfing as a family as other family members used to surf. It has been beneficial for all the family.”(Parent)