100 YEARS
The origins of the Alexandra Headland Surf Life Saving Club can best be traced to an auction of land in August 1915. 91 allotments of land belonging to Thomas O’Connor at ‘the rising seaside resort of Alexandra Headland’, offering ‘good fishing and surf bathing’ and ‘magnificent views’ were put on auction in Brisbane.
Among the purchasers were a number of people from the hinterland town of Woombye – Mr J. McClintock, J.T. Wilson, Mr A. Pringle, and Mrs Lather. Later, other residents from the Woombye area such as Albert Tainton and Eric Bennett Fox acquired allotments from people who had bought land as a speculative investment at the auction. By the early 1920s more than a dozen holiday houses had been built at the Headland, mostly by Woombye people, and during Christmas and Easter vacations holiday - makers also pitched tents along the dunes from Maroochydore to Alex.
A number of young men from Woombye had joined the Mooloolaba Life Saving Club in 1923, a year after its foundation, and some had obtained lifesaving qualifications. Realising the importance of protecting surfers at their holiday beach, a deputation of Woombye people asked these young men whether they would be willing to leave the Mooloolaba Club and form a separate club at Alexandra Headland.
On July 24th 1924 a public meeting was held in the hall of the Woombye School of Arts at which the new Club was officially formed. The meeting was chaired by E.E. McNall, the secretary of the Woombye Fruitgrowers’ Co-operative, who had been the driving force for setting up a Club for Alexandra Headland. He was elected President, with Thomas O’Connor elected as the Patron, E.B. Fox the Honorary Solicitor, and George Edwards the Secretary Treasurer.
A few weeks later the Nambour Chronicle announced:
A Club has now been formed of Life Saving enthusiasts to guard the Alexandra Headlands. It is proposed to obtain a reel and life line almost immediately and to appoint the Club’s hon. instructor early in the season. The Club intends to patrol their beach during the Xmas holidays. With this new club along the beach there will be another entrant for the Thos. O’Connor Shield and the Whalley Cup contests at Maroochy, the former being competed for at Christmas, the latter at Easter
There were 32 foundation members of the Club, mostly aged in their early twenties. The majority were active lifesavers, and nearly all lived in Woombye or in the surrounding area. Some of the other foundation members were Stan Barlow, Charlie Kuskopf, Bill Buhk, Jim Menary, Albert Tainton, and the youngest four of the six Pringle brothers, huge men whose size prompted the saying ‘thirty feet of Pringle’. A few of the foundation members had already gained their bronze medallions while at Mooloolaba, the remainder went through at Alexandra Headland. In those days it was necessary first to obtain a bronze in still water rescue techniques, and then present for the Royal Life Saving Society’s Surf Medallion
The club colours of black and gold were the same as the colours of the Woombye Rugby League team. This was not particularly surprising, as there was a very considerable overlap in membership between the two clubs. The black came from the black snake, and the gold from the wattle. The original Club caps were black and gold quartered. In 2024, the Club cap has returned to this black and quartered design in a nod to the Club’s centenary celebrations.