PIPI Surfmate’s Unique Surf Curriculum: An Unbeatable Recipe for Staying Active and Healthy
The Future of the PIPI Surfmate Surf Development Programme is here: it’s our plan to make professional surfing programmes more accessible to kids and young adults from deprived communities, helping them adopt an active lifestyle for a lifetime.
Lead Surf Coach and Founder of PIPI Surfmate, Kaylib Heke, taking a kid to an ocean surf lesson at Muriwai Beach in March of 2022.
Thanks to the unique curriculum and coaching models that have been developed by the Daniel Kereopa Outdoor Education Trust, PIPI Surfmate School is now able to offer a wider variety of surf lessons to more people with physical or financial limitations.
Wider Variety of Surfing Activities Taught Through the Māori Lens
Following the method of teaching designed by Daniel Kereopa (DK), PIPI Surfmate has put together a curriculum to help people with physical or financial limitations adopt an active lifestyle.
Every day, from Monday through Saturday, the school offers lessons targeting every aspect of surf skills development, in addition to PIPI Pathways - our popular on-the-water programme run on Sundays.
Surf fitness, pool and flat surf skating, and surf forecasting lessons are available by schedule.
Also available are special individual ocean surf sessions under the guidance of PIPI Surfmate's founder, Kaylib Heke - a Level 2 qualified ISA and SNZ surf coach, together with NZ surfing icon - Daniel Kereopa.
Children participants of the PIPI Pathways programme, Sunset Beach | Port Waikato, May 2022.
Fostering Friendly Competition and Setting Good Example
By offering students opportunities to work on different aspects of surfing every day with positive role models like professional surfers Kaylib and Daniel, the school is committed to helping every kid and young adult master surfing techniques.
“Once kids learn the right techniques, they can achieve an advanced surfing level very quickly, to the point where they can even enter competitions,” says Kaylib Heke, Lead surf coach and founder of PIPI Surf Mate.
Getting kids to the point where they are confident in their skills that they want to compete, is the ultimate goal behind PIPI Surfmate’s membership offer.
A healthy competitive spirit is often a motivator to be more physically active in life. "We hope to set good examples for our kids by doing regular surf activities with them,” says Daniel Kereopa, an NZ surfing icon and founder of DK Surf School NZ.
About Our Memberships
While the PIPI Pathways programme is designed to help people learn basic water safety skills, the new membership model is designed for kids, young people, and adults who have:
Finished the pilot 5-week PIPI Pathways programme;
Want to progress to an intermediate or advanced level; and/or
Want to become more confident surfers and participate in national surfing competitions.
Besides the intention to create a wider variety of surfing activities that are accessible to more people, the idea behind weekly classes is to motivate people to stay physically active for as long as they want, not just for the duration of a more limited programme.
Types of Memberships
The Kaupapa Māori School - PIPI Surfmate now offers a wider variety of surf sessions available for booking online. People can book sessions on a weekly or season pass basis.
“PIPI Surf Whānau” $120 per week
Students can attend any number of weekly classes. We only ask them to limit their visits to one session per class category, to allow other people from other surfing levels to be able to attend these sessions too! When students sign up for this option, their timetable at maximum capacity could look something like this:
Ocean Surfing (Mon.)
x1 Surfing session
Skate Pool / Flat Surfing (Students choose one from Tues., Weds., or Thurs.)
x1 Forecasting session
Surf Forecast 101 (Weds.)
x1 Surf forecasting learning session
Fitness for Surfing (Students choose one from Tues. or Thurs.)
x1 Surf fitness session
Progression Surfing (Students choose one day from Mon. through Fri.)*
x1 Progression ocean surf session with Kaylib
Advanced Surfing (Students choose one day from Mon. through Fri).*
x1 Advanced ocean surf session with DK
PIPI Whānau Surfing** (Saturday)
x1 Whānau surf session with PIPI’s community of surfers
*Forecast dependent, invite only; must be booked one week in advance. These classes are designed to help students progress to the next level. Professional surf coaches - Kaylib or DK - assess the level of each student before inviting them to a surf lesson that will take them to the next level. Students can get more than one session with them in one week if the right weather conditions last for longer than a day!
**Our PIPI Whānau Surfing sessions are designed for those who want to learn with friends and whānau. These sessions are especially valuable for those who feel they need mental and spiritual support.
“Surf Skate Whānau” $30 per week
Regardless of their level of surf skating, whether they are just beginners or intermediate skaters, students can attend any session or all three sessions each week. Attentive PIPI Surfmate coaches will train and give feedback to learners at every level.
Beginner (Tues.)
x1 Beginner surf skate session
General (Weds.)
x1 General surf skate session
Advanced (Thurs.)
x1 Advanced surf skate session
“Surf Fitness Whānau” $30 per week
Students can attend up to two surf fitness sessions per week.
Surf Fitness (Tues.)
x1 Surf fitness session
Surf Fitness (Thurs.)
x1 Surf fitness session
“Season Pass” Spring Season: 25 Sep - 25 Nov
Students can attend classes every day for the whole season. They can choose from surf skate sessions, surf fitness classes or surfing lessons, and more. Classes are available every day, from Monday - Saturday. Classes are suitable for people at all levels.
Surf Skating
Forecasting
Surf Fitness
Progression
Advanced Surf
Progression Surfing*
Advanced Surfing*
Whānau Surfing*
*Forecast dependent, invite only; must be booked one week in advance*