Parents and boosters to plunge into ocean from Balboa Pier to raise funds for Newport Beach Junior Lifeguards
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Parents and supporters of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguards will brave a drop of at least 15 feet from Balboa Pier on Saturday to raise money for the youth organization.
Leaping from the pier has been a rite of passage for teens participating in the summer program. The Fourth Annual Adult Pier Jump hosted by the Ben Carlson Foundation invites the entire Newport Beach community to join the tradition.
“It is very scary, y’know,” Newport Beach lifeguard and foundation board member Skeeter Leeper said. “A lot of junior lifeguards don’t do it. But when the parents see the kids do it and hear ‘Come on Mom, you can do it!’’ that’s a big draw.”
Participants will start the day with a safety briefing over coffee at the Junior Lifeguards’ headquarters on Oceanfront at about 10 a.m. And when the time comes to take the plunge, guards will be in the waters below with flotation devices and a safety boat.
About 100 people at a time have taken part in past years, Leeper said. With tickets to participate priced at $250, the foundation hopes to raise around $25,000 this year, foundation administrator Kaity Van Amersfort said.
Some of that money will be used to pay for equipment like boogie boards and paddleboards. Most of it will go to scholarships that help cover the junior lifeguard program’s roughly $800 tuition for teens who might not be able to join otherwise.
The summer program teaches youth to become “ocean safe,” allowing them to make the most out of living in a coastal community, Leeper said.
“For the kids, it’s mostly to get them comfortable in the ocean environment so they can be safe, because we live in an aquatic community. Competitions are a big part of junior guards, and getting barreled.”
Many of the teens who go through the program go on to become fully-fledged ocean lifeguards helping to protect their community’s coastline, Leeper said. And all of those who take part in it join an intimate circle where they may form bonds that last for decades.
“It connects all the kids to the community,” Leeper, a former junior lifeguard himself, said. “We keep coming back. I get to go to events as the parent of a junior guard now. My son is a junior guard now, and I see friends who are my age who were junior guards with me. It’s a tight-knit community that’s been going on for 42 years.”
