Welsh Surfing Federation Surf School
The Instructors
The instructors work for the surf school in the
summer months and have other jobs or are students. The lucky ones head south to surf
somewhere warmer in the winter.

All of the instuctors working for the WSF are
fully qualified British Surfing Association coaches, CRB checked with Surf Life Saving
Society or Royal Life Saving Society beach lifeguard awards. There is quite a range
of surfing ability amongst the instructors from Mike "its taken me 25 years to be
this average" Steadman to Nick "how did he do that?" Reid. Its all
about having fun and safety is the only thing we take seriously. One thing to think
about is that all of our instructors were beginners once.

On the beach each instructor wears a yellow
identification vest, waterproof two-way radio, emergency whistle and rescue
surfboard. We also take a first aid kit to the beach. In the lesson you willl
wear our distinctive yellow and black wetsuits or your own with one of our lycra vests in
the surf school colours. All this equipment is there just in case and the most
important thing each instructor takes to the beach is the ability to spot risks well
before they can become a danger.
For this season these are our regular
instructors and a little bit about them:
Mike Steadman (Surf school manager)
| Age:
|
44 |
| Years surfing: |
26 |
| Years instructing: |
16 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf Coach (level 2)
NARS Beach Lifeguard (Valid to 9/5/12) |
| Main occupation: |
Teacher of I.C.T., Olchfa Comprehensive School,
Swansea (15 years) |
| Other info: |
Other hobbies include snowboarding, mountain
biking and moustashe growing (retired). |
Charles Legg
| Age: |
42 |
| Years surfing: |
26 |
| Years instructing: |
5 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf Coach (level 1)
NARS Surf Life Saving & Surfing Coach Award (Valid to 09/5/12) |
| Main occupation: |
Surf instructor |
| Other info: |
Charlie lives and breathes the sea juggling his
"busy" life between surfing, canoeing, fishing, spear fishing and teaching
surfing. How does he do it? |

Cathy Rees
| Age: |
42 |
| Years surfing: |
25 |
| Years instructing: |
1 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf Coach (level 1)
NARS Surf Lifesaving award (Valid to 3/5/11) |
| Main occupation: |
Works at Hillend Caravan and Camp site |
| Other info: |
|

Matt Crome
| Age: |
27 |
| Years surfing: |
10 |
| Years instructing: |
3 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf Coach (level 2)
NARS Surf Life Saving & Surfing Coach Award (Valid to 12/6/12) |
| Main occupation: |
Youth and community worker for Parklands church |
| Other info: |
Plays in a band. Married to Claire Crome. |

Joe Loft
| Age: |
21 |
| Years surfing: |
5 |
| Years instructing: |
2 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf
Coach (level 1)
NARS Beach Lifeguard (Valid to 1/6/12) |
| Main occupation: |
Student |
| Other info: |
One of our Welsh speaking
instructors. Karate. |

Laurie Jones
| Age: |
19 |
| Years surfing: |
5 |
| Years instructing: |
2 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf Coach (level 1)
NARS Beach Lifeguard (Valid to 1/4/12) |
| Main occupation: |
Student |
| Other info: |
In Welsh and British Lifesaving team. Beach
flags and sprints European champion |

Nick Reid
| Age: |
27 |
| Years surfing: |
12 |
| Years instructing: |
3 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf Coach (level 1)
NARS Beach Lifeguard (Valid to 15/6/11) |
| Main occupation: |
PHD student |
| Other info: |
Previoulsy member of Welsh surf team, winner of
student surf championships |

Tom Hayman
| Age: |
21 |
| Years surfing: |
5 |
| Years instructing: |
3 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf Coach (level 1)
NARS Beach Lifeguard (Valid to 22/6/12) |
| Main occupation: |
Engineering student at Cardif University |
| Other info: |
Other hobbies include rugby |

James Williams
| Age: |
30 |
| Years surfing: |
18 |
| Years instructing: |
2 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf
Coach (level 1)
NARS Beach Lifeguard (Valid to 1/6/11) |
| Main occupation: |
Primary school teacher |
| Other info: |
One of our Welsh speaking
instructors. |
Chris Sanders
| Age: |
22 |
| Years surfing: |
5 |
| Years instructing: |
2 |
| Surfing Qualifications: |
British Surfing Association Surf
Coach (level 1)
NARS Beach Lifeguard (Valid to 12/5/12) |
| Main occupation: |
Student |
| Other info: |
|

Here are some of the people who work in the office:
Mel Steadman
(Office manager)
| Age: |
Not telling |
| Years surfing: |
Only dabbles when its sunny |
| Years instructing: |
|
| Surfing Qualifications: |
|
| Main occupation: |
Nurse |
| Other info: |
Married to Mike, likes cooking |

Gina Sanki (Office
assistant)
| Age: |
22 |
| Years surfing: |
2 |
| Years instructing: |
|
| Surfing Qualifications: |
|
| Main occupation: |
Graduate |
| Other info: |
Microbiology graduate due to start a
"proper job" in the autumn. |

Sam Beynon (Office
assistant)
| Age: |
19 |
| Years surfing: |
2 |
| Years instructing: |
|
| Surfing Qualifications: |
|
| Main occupation: |
Student of Criminology at Cardiff University |
| Other info: |
|

Rhian Poulton
(Office assistant)
| Age: |
17 |
| Years surfing: |
2 |
| Years instructing: |
|
| Surfing Qualifications: |
|
| Main occupation: |
A level student at Gwyr School |
| Other info: |
Speaks Welsh |

Claire Crome
(Office assistant)
| Age: |
24 |
| Years surfing: |
|
| Years instructing: |
|
| Surfing Qualifications: |
|
| Main occupation: |
Clothing retailing. |
| Other info: |
Married to Matt Crome. |

Want To Be A Surf
Instructor?
Fancy joining the team?
If you have a passion for surfing, are a good
communicator, enjoy teamwork and have a keen eye for safety then please apply.
You should be a competent surfer, we teach
beginners so there is no need to be of a competition standard. You will need to have
the RLSS or SLSA beach lifeguard and surf coach awards. If you don't have these
awards then we can show you where to get them.
Having the surf coach and lifesaving awards and
experience of working with the longest established and most successful surf school in
Wales looks very good on a CV if you a gap year student. Teaching people to surf is
also great fun and personally rewarding.
As we run at weekends and school summer holidays
ideal candidates will be surfers who are school teachers, students or someone who has a
winter job.
If you are interested please send an e mail saying why you want to work for us
and attach a CV and a recent photo.
|