Bonnie:

Hi, I'm Bonnie. I'm from Woolgoolga High School and I've been doing the cert three in events and tourism. I decided to do the traineeship, because it fits in well with my competitive surfing and school.

Darryn:

Hey, my names Darryn Quigley. I'm the owner, operator of Solitary Islands Surf School here on the Coff's coast. What inspired me to take on Bonnie as a trainee is, for the young people growing up that are good at sport, it's always nice to give them that other option and a skill set besides their surfing career. When she gets older, if surf career doesn't work yet, she's also got a backup plan.

Bonnie:

I know that he runs this surf school and I've always wanted to do something like this along the lines of surfing as well. Mr. Rutledge said that I could be doing this as well at school. I was pretty keen on that. I was like, "Oh my God, that's so cool. That's perfect. That's literally what I want to be doing." So when this all worked out, I was really excited.

Darryn:

Yeah. I have five other school-based employees. They go to school, they work before and after school on weekends and school holidays. We give them the relevant training in getting all their surf coaching qualifications. The skills I look for are passion for the ocean and surfing, a good personality. I look for good talkers so they can communicate well with the kids and just willingness. Bonnie's best skill set is her determination and commitment to what she sets her mind to. She's very passionate. She's talked about her willingness to want to get involved with surf events in the future.

Bonnie:

I decided to do event in tourism, because when I'm older I want to work with Surfing New South Wales in events for surf competitions or even any other competitions. So I thought that fit in really well with what I need to know for doing that when I'm older.

Darryn:

I guess the biggest skill set is to be present and to be able to plan things. With events, with surf schools, having a good plan for your days, understanding what you're doing for the day. Not just going out in the water and pushing people on the waves, but having a good understanding of how things are set up each day and even more so weeks in advance.

Bonnie:

Anything I want to be doing, I want to be surfing, even if I don't make it as a pro surfer. I want to be a judge or running events and stuff like that.

End transcript.