Josh Douglas, captain of Kiama Downs Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC), has been named Facilitator of the Year at the Surf Life Saving NSW Awards of Excellence, held recently at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney.

Kiama Downs had nominees in nine categories on the night, with Douglas taking home one of the top honours.

“I don’t really like getting recognition and things like that, but it’s nice,” said Douglas.

The Facilitator of the Year award recognises individuals who train and assess surf lifesavers in essential skills across areas such as first aid, resuscitation, and rescue craft operation.

“For me, that means a lot of first aid courses, advanced resuscitation, IRB and RWC - which are the jet ski courses,” Douglas explained.

“This past season, I also travelled to a lot of branches across NSW to upskill trainers in IRB operations. There’s new work being done in that area. I even went down to Victoria to learn about the updated RWC (jet ski) training, then brought that knowledge back to share with clubs across New South Wales.”

Douglas was also recognised closer to home, receiving Club Person of the Year at Kiama Downs SLSC’s own presentation night last Friday. Club President Brett Schweitzer highlighted Douglas’ wide-ranging contribution to the club.

“Josh was away for about two weeks this year supporting the Northern Rivers during the floods,” Schweitzer said.

“He’s heavily involved in our community events, like Australia Day, and he’s on three patrols - so he does a huge number of patrolling hours. He’s also on call for after-hours rescues, and he never says no to those.”

The Kiama Downs SLSC crew at the SLSNSW Awards of Excellence. Photo: Kiama Downs SLSC

Douglas has been part of the club for 27 years and recently completed his 20th season as Club Captain. His motivation, he says, is simple.

“It’s the people. The members at Kiama Downs are there for the community - they want to help. It’s just a great bunch of people working together, not just to improve the club, but to make the broader community better too,” he said.

Schweitzer said the awards serve as a valuable reminder of the efforts made by volunteers.

“Volunteers don’t seek recognition, but we should take at least one opportunity each year to acknowledge the incredible work they do,” he said.

“None of the people we recognised do it for awards. They do it because they care about the community. These awards are just a moment to reflect on that - and have a bit of fun too.”

Kiama Downs SLSC Presentation Night Award Winners

Junior Competitor: Maria Flor Santana De Castro

Competitor: Kirra Dale

Cadet: Polly Gazzard 

Junior Member: Darcy Newman

Bill Gown Award: Gary Trudgett

Patrol Person: Nick Mulholland

Club Person: Josh Douglas

Kiama Downs Nominees at the 2025 SLSNSW Awards of Excellence

Coach: Nathon Foster

Assessor: Trina Jensen

Services Team: Support Services Team, Kiama Downs

Youth Volunteer: Archie Weir

Surf Sports Team: Red IRB Racing Team

Surf Lifesaver of the Year: Nicholas Mulholland

Patrol Captain: Benjamin McAlister

Support Operations Manager: Josh Douglas