We’re proud to be the exclusive sponsor of Sawtell SLSC’s new sun safe surf hats. Every Nipper this season now has one, from the youngest group up. If you’ve been down at Sawtell on a Sunday morning, you’ll have already seen the bright hats bobbing around the shorebreak.
The point is to get sun safety into kids’ routines early, while they’re spending hours on the sand and in the water.
Why Coast jumped on board
The idea started with the club. Last year Sawtell had a few unbranded hats for their youngest Nippers, and families kept asking why every kid couldn’t have one. SLSC wanted to roll them out across all the age groups, and we, through our Creative Director (and Nippers parent) Jena Hackett, jumped at the chance to make it a reality.
Shout out to the SLSC committee members Mandy Heart and Naomi Little, who drove this initiative and worked with us on the logistics of the donation and how the surf hats would be designed. We’re grateful for the time they put into it.
Mandy says Sawtell is the first club in our local area to bring sun safe surf hats to its members, and she hopes seeing it rolled out will encourage more clubs to do the same.
What the hats actually do
Nippers used to wear brimless caps. They look the part, but nothing shades the face, ears or back of the neck, which is where the sun tends to get missed.
The new surf hats have a wide brim that covers those spots. A clip underneath keeps the hat on through wind and waves. They’re made to go in and out of the water, so kids don’t have to take them off every time they head in. The bright colours are split by age group, which makes it easier to keep an eye on the kids across a busy beach. SLSC logo on the front, We Are Coast logo on the back – beauty!
A big thank you to Surf Safety Australia for the production of our new surf hats.
Why it hits home
Sawtell is the beach that we know and love a lot. We know how strong the sun is on this coast, even in the morning, and after a few hours on the sand, nobody wants to see their kid cooked and sunburnt by lunch.
Every family on the Coffs Coast has their own local beach, and we reckon most of them would feel the same way about the kids on theirs. Now the Sawtell Nippers have bright hats to match the beach, and watching them run down to the water in those colours is a pretty good way to start a Sunday.
A big thanks
Sawtell SLSC does a lot for the next generation of swimmers and surfers, so backing them was an easy decision. As a Coffs Coast creative agency, plenty of the team spend their spare time on the waves or sand.
Thanks to everyone at Sawtell Life Saving Club for making this season happen, and for letting us be part of it.
Parents, let’s get those surf hats on every Sunday! Have a great season, Nippers.
