By TANIA PHILLIPS
IN a major coup for the Tweed Coast, Cudgen Headland Surf Lifesaving club has been named to host the 2014 Australian IRB Surf Life Saving championships.
The best IRB crews from across Australia will converge on Kingscliff beach from 18-20 July next year following the decision by Surf Lifesaving Australia to award the titles to the Tweed.
The Australian IRB Championships provide an opportunity for the best IRB crews from around Australia to compete against each other over a frenetic and action-packed weekend of competition.
With a National title and surf life saving club pride up for grabs, crews put it all on the line at some of Australia’s most well-known beaches. This year’s event was held in Darwin.
Cudgen Headland Club president Adam Mills said the event would bring 2000 competitors to town at a time that was usually quiet for surf lifesavers bringing a major boost to the local economy.
He said the club’s proximity to some of the big Queensland clubs and the support of both the local community and the other three local clubs had helped secure the event for Cudgen.
“The SLSA selection committee advised that they were very impressed with the quality of our submission and the support that we have received from the Tweed Shire Council, Destination Tweed and local community organisations,” Mr Mills said.
“The club is very excited to be hosting another major carnival and look forward to having another opportunity to showcase our region and assist our IRB enthusiasts with their continued development with aquatic rescue craft.
“We have received great support from the other Tweed Coast clubs and hope to get them involved in planning for the event. A planning committee will be established over the next month with SLSA to start preparing for the event.”
Mr Mills said the club’s experience in hosting two NSW State titles in the past four years, had also stood them in good stead for winning this event.
“We were disappointed when we missed out on hosting our third NSW state title in a row, but it was probably a bit of a godsend,” he said.
“It (missing out on hosting the NSW titles this year) gave our volunteers a bit of a break and they will be back raring to go for this event. This is not as big as the NSW titles but it is still 2000 competitors.”
During the NSW titles Kingscliff was suffering some of it’s worst erosion, however the Cudgen club was able to use other venues including the beach at Jack Bayliss Park and up to Fingal to run some of the events and Mr Mills said this had also proven a plus for the club, showing Surf Lifesaving Australia that they had plenty of options what ever the conditions.
Tweed Shire mayor Barry Longland said he was thrilled with the decision to bring such a major event to the Tweed.
“We are thrilled about it – but it says a lot about the quality of the submission that Cudgen put in,” he said.
