Mandurah Surf Life Saving Club have celebrated the success of a groundbreaking new program, Starfish Nippers.
The first of its kind in Western Australia, the life saving skills program is designed for children and young adults with a disability to teach them about beach safety and harness their water awareness.
Program coordinator Tash Gollan said they were inspired to bring the initiative to Mandurah after hearing about its success in the eastern states.
"We didn't know why we weren't doing this here," Ms Gollan said.
"It was our president's vision - he came to me and said he wanted to put it in place and we just ran with it."
Using her skills as a teacher in an education support school, the Mandurah mother got to work developing the program to cater for locals with a variety of disabilities including Autism, Asperger’s and Down Syndrome.
"We made fliers and put them out at the schools," she said.
"We started with two kids and now we have six and we definitely see it continuing to grow in the future."
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Starfish Nippers runs alongside the club's current Nippers program and participants take part in the same, slightly modified activities including flag races and obstacle courses.
Each student has one or two dedicated Mandurah Surf Life Saving Club members to teach and supervise them both in and out of the water.
Ms Gollan said her team of volunteers had already noticed an outstanding improvement in the children.
"When they first started, they were standing on the water's edge and jumping tiny little waves and now they're paddling on boards around buoys and they're swimming, they're standing up on the boards even," she said.
"It just makes me feel amazing and it's rewarding for everyone.
"It's been good for the teachers as well - my daughters help out and they were quite apprehensive to start because it's an unknown thing working with kids with disabilities but they love it."
Parents have also been impressed with the outcome of the program.
Amber Gilkes said it was "phenomenal" to see her son willingly take part every Sunday morning.
"He's never been involved in team sports because of his disability," she said.
"Here, the kids are just part of it all, our son doesn't know the difference.
"We will 100 per cent continue with it."
With any Australian surf lifesaving club able to begin a Starfish Nipper Program, the team at Mandurah are encouraging other local clubs to get on board and create a more inclusive sporting environment.
They have already presented the concept to Secret Harbour Surf Life Saving Club, who recently started a program of their own.
For more information, or to register your interest, visit the Mandurah Surf Life Saving Club Facebook page.
