Junior guards cut to 4 weeks

More children can enroll, officials say, with two sessions instead of one eight-week session.The Newport Beach City Council voted Tuesday to reorganize the popular junior lifeguard program, cutting it down to two shorter sessions in an effort to accommodate more children.

Last year, youngsters from outside Newport Beach were shut out of the program when priority registration filled up. The new design is built to hold up to 800 more kids, and lifeguard officials said the shorter sessions won’t reduce the program’s quality.

“The intent was to keep the safety and the quality of the program, and that’s what I think we’re doing,” said Lifeguard Battalion Chief Reenie Boyer, who leads the program.

The best features of the junior guard program -- the special events and interaction with instructors -- are not going to change, Boyer said.

Previously, the junior guard program was an eight-week session, Monday through Thursday. The program couldn’t hold more than 1,200 kids. The City Council’s decision means that the program will be broken up into two four-week sessions, Monday through Friday.

Each session has an enrollment maximum of 1,000, although lifeguard officials expect to receive that many applications. Newport Beach residents will still have a priority; they have two weeks to enroll before others.

The program’s popularity and growth have left the city no choice but to expand it, officials said

“It’s inevitable, the community’s growing, the population’s growing,” Newport Beach Fire Department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz said.

Lifeguard officials said they know the changes are going to be an adjustment for the community; they’ve received some negative feedback about the changes.

“I know there’s apprehension in the community because change is hard, but I know we’re going to have a great program,” Boyer said. “I wouldn’t have recommended it unless I strongly thought it was the best way to go.”

One group of Newport Beach parents isn’t buying it. They said they love the junior guards program but believe that shortening it will have negative results.

Newport Beach resident Bonnie Nolan said she was devastated when she heard about the changes.

“There’s no way they can accomplish in four weeks what they did in eight,” said Nolan, who’s 9-year-old son, Eddie, participated in junior guards for the first time last year.

Nancy Bell, a mother of one junior guard and one hopeful, agrees.

“I don’t feel like they have the time to build up their self confidence [in four weeks], and it’s really a fantastic program in that regard,” Bell said.

For information on the junior lifeguard program, call (949) 675-8420.