Albany's surf school is igniting a passion for sport among NDIS participants, as Max Forster-Ross discovers. With a unique program that brings together surfers from all backgrounds, the school is fostering a sense of community and helping participants achieve their life goals. Sascha de Lacy-Koenig, the driving force behind Sacha's Surf Experience, explains how the program works. He says, 'When you're surfing, you're making a lot of decisions; you're deciding which waves you should go on, you're deciding which board you should use.' This decision-making process is then applied to other areas of life, from daily tasks to pursuing bigger goals. Monique Blaikie, a participant, shares her transformative experience. She says, 'Before I started surfing, drowning was my big fear. I wouldn't go out past waist deep. I was scared of the waves, I was very afraid of the water.' Now, she's an ocean person, and her personality has completely changed. Riley Coffey joined the program to learn to surf with his son and has become a mentor to some of the NDIS participants. He hopes surfing will offer them something positive as they step into new stages of life. He says, 'It's such a nice thing, and I feel it's something that you can hold forever.' The program's inclusive nature and the sense of community it fosters are what keep participants coming back, rain, hail, or shine. As Sascha de Lacy-Koenig concludes, 'It doesn't matter what your background is; if you enjoy the ocean and you love seeing these waves come through and riding them, you can connect with others in that space.'
