Piha SLSC
Tuesday, 20th October 2026 at 7:30am
Nine students from Green Bay High School have been selected to represent Piha Surf Life Saving Club as part of a 14-strong Junior Guard team travelling to Huntington Beach, California, in July 2027.
Congratulations to Julian Murphy, Oscar Barry, Rae Stirrup, Bowie Rewi, Lewis Child, Noah Schipper, Cormac Gray, Dylan Gear and Fox Winton.
The Huntington Beach Exchange is a longstanding international youth surf lifesaving programme that gives young lifeguards from Piha and Tairua in New Zealand the opportunity to travel to Huntington Beach, train alongside their American counterparts, experience a different surf lifesaving culture, and build friendships that can last a lifetime.
The 2027 Piha team has recently been selected following a competitive process involving training sessions, fitness assessments, surf lifesaving development and a team development camp at Piha.
We are incredibly proud that nine of the 14 Junior Guards selected are students at Green Bay High School. They will be joining fellow young lifeguards from Piha as they prepare for what promises to be an unforgettable experience.
Over the coming months, the team will continue training and taking part in camps and team-building activities as they prepare for the exchange. The programme is about much more than the trip itself; it is an opportunity for these young people to develop their surf life-saving skills, fitness, leadership, resilience and independence while representing their club and community internationally.
The exchange is a reciprocal programme, with the Huntington Beach Junior Guards travelling to Piha in early 2028. The Piha team will have the opportunity to return the hospitality by helping host the visiting guards and sharing our own surf lifesaving culture and the unique Piha experience.
Help us get the team to Huntington Beach!
An international exchange of this scale comes with significant costs, and our young guards and their families will be working hard over the coming year to raise funds for the trip.
As part of their fundraising, the team will be holding a Bake Sale at school this Thursday (22 Oct), collecting gold coin donations.
Piha Surf Life Saving Club has also designed a special 2027 Huntington Beach Exchange team T-shirt, featuring the names of those who support the individual students. Every donation makes a difference! Smaller donations will have the donor's name printed on the T-shirt of the student they have chosen to support.
For businesses or individuals wanting to make a larger contribution, there is also an opportunity for prominent recognition across all nine Green Bay High School team members or across the entire squad.
If you, your whānau, or your business would like to support one or all our young guards, please get in touch with the team manager: Nici Stirrup 2027 Huntington Beach Exchange Manager [email protected]
Every contribution will help our young lifeguards get one step closer to this incredible opportunity. PSLSC would love to take the support of our Green Bay community with them when they head to Huntington Beach in 2027!
