Fl Jr Lifeguards image

Summer Session 1- 2025JGs in Santa Cruz 2023

June 9th - July 2nd

Monday-Friday from 9am-2pm.

Held at Black Miners Bar Swim Beach.

Camping Trip to Santa Cruz: June 24th-27th 2025. Parent/guardian supervision required.

Summer Session 2- 2025

July 7th - July 31st

Monday-Friday from 9am-2pm.

Held at Black Miners Bar Swim Beach.

Camping Trip to Santa Cruz: July 22nd-25th 2025. Parent/guardian supervision required.


Please note: We have done our best to accomodate local school district schedules. We will NOT be offering a discount for school conflicts.

Registration will open on April 5th, 2025 at 8am on ReserveCalifornia.com


 

Tryouts

2025 general tryouts will be held May 7th and 8th at 5pm.

Tryouts will be held at Black Miners Bar Swim Beach. Your child must be registered in a session PRIOR to attending tryouts.

All NEW Junior Guards are required to complete a tryout prior to the start of the session they are enrolled in. Please see our tryouts page for more details. 

Parent Meetings & Uniform Sales- TBD

Parent Meeting is strongly encouraged for ALL families. Participants are allowed to attend as well. 

Special Events

Camping trip to New Brighton (Santa Cruz):

2025 Dates:
JG in Santa Cruz

Session 1: June 24th-27th

Session 2: July 22nd-July 25th

To allow for travel we will not have JGs on Tuesday and Friday during Santa Cruz week. All families attending the trip will be required to fill out a camping contract prior to the trip. More information will be available by email to registered participants as we get closer.

In accordance with the Folsom Lake Junior Lifeguard Handbook, all JGs must be accompanied on the camping trip by an adult. You will need to be in attendance with your child or make accommodations for your child to attend with another family if you wish for them to participate. Folsom Lake Junior Lifeguard staff does not take responsibility for children outside of regular program hours. The trip is intended to give JGs an educated experience with the ocean environment, attendance is highly encouraged. There will not be an alternate program at Black Miners Bar while we are in Santa Cruz! No refunds or discounts will be given if your participant does not attend the camping trip.

Shared tent group camping sites will be provided with the cost of tuition. We will not be providing accommodations for RVs/Trailers. If you wish to bring an RV or trailer, you can make your own arrangements using ReserveCalifornia. Some families also opt to make their own off-site reservations.

 

Rafting Day (regularly scheduled day) 

JGs in a raft on the river

2025 Dates:

Session 1: TBD

Session 2: TBD

Drop Off/Pick Up will be at American River Raft Rentals: 11257 S Bridge St, Gold River, CA 95670

What to bring for rafting day:

- Sunscreen, food, and water (all must fit in a single gallon sized ziplock bag with participants name on it).

- Arrive wearing their boardshorts, and rashguard (NO T-SHIRT), and closed toes shoes (NO CROCS).

*Please leave backpacks, phones, and towels at home we will not have storage to keep them dry.

We will be on 12 man rafts traveling down the Lower American River. Each raft will be accompanied by a State Parks Lifeguard as well as youth assistants and parent volunteers. Each child will be fitted for a life vest and will be required to wear it during the trip. When we get to the San Juan Rapids, we will be escorting the children down the rapids without a raft. This is completely safe as we will have many lifeguards stationed in the segment of rapids ensuring the safety of everyone. Learning how to appropriately navigate rapids without a raft is an important part of our program to equip your child with the necessary knowledge of what they should do should they ever be faced with this situation. We will model the correct positioning and ensure that each participant successfully makes it through the rapids. This task is often one of the most nerve-racking parts of the program but after they are finished they are usually begging to do it again. We never force any child to do this portion of the rafting trip but we do encourage them to watch their friends do it and to consider doing it as it is a very valuable lesson.

All JGs will be bussed back to the starting point after we get off the river. More information will be available by email to registered participants as we get closer.


 

Typical Day as a Junior Lifeguard

The day begins in groups at 9am with a warm up led by our instructors and youth assistants. Warm up includes stretching, sit ups and push-ups to build core strength followed by a workout consisting of varied running and swimming distances. When the daily workout is complete, junior lifeguards will return to the junior lifeguard area and prepare for the LESSON AND ACTIVITY of the day.

Lesson topics include beach and lake safety, first aid/CPR, conservation of the environment, and proper use of lifeguard equipment and emergency procedures. When the lesson ends junior lifeguards are given a period of free time for lunch and activities. During this time junior lifeguards can use the equipment, including paddle boards, kayaks, balls, cones, assistant instructor tubes, etc. All of this is provided by the California State Parks and kept in the Folsom Lake junior lifeguard arena under close supervision by the lifeguards.

Activities often include water polo, soccer, capture the flag, dodge ball, different beach competition games, and relays to help build physical fitness and prepare the junior lifeguards for becoming future State Parks lifeguards.

At the end of the day junior lifeguards will pack up their stuff and preform a beach clean-up as needed. A quick review of the day’s lesson topic will be performed to finish off a typical Junior Guard day.

Students will be released at 2:00 pm sharp for parent pick up.

Particpants are expected to participate in all events and should understand that exercise is a key component of our program.