Surf Therapy – Term 1, 2026
Over 8 weeks, eight young tāne from Te Puke Intermediate stepped into something much bigger than learning to surf at Pukehina Beach. Together, they stepped into challenge, connection, courage, belonging, and growth.
Through Youth Encounter’s Surf Therapy Programme, the boys journeyed through our Live Life Wide Open Track — exploring identity, purpose, hope, resilience, mindset, and emotional wellbeing through experiential learning, mentoring, counselling, and the ocean.
Each week they arrived ready to surf, reflect, challenge themselves, and grow together.
The group created and lived out their own values:
🌊 We are Encouraging
🌊 We are Committed
🌊 We are Fun
🌊 We are Kind
And we genuinely saw those values come alive.
We saw boys encouraging each other through wipeouts and hard moments, opening up emotionally in safe spaces, stepping into leadership, and building real camaraderie and belonging.
One participant shared the journey had helped him:
“I will make better choices in life, learning about good life choices, how to control your emotions, how to do better in life.”
That really captures this powerful journey.
By the end of the programme:
100% reported growth in identity and self-worth
100% reported increased purpose and motivation
75% reported definite growth in hope
6 out of 8 reported definite growth in resilience
We saw this growth every week:
falling off surfboards and trying again
facing fear in challenging conditions
learning how thoughts shape feelings and behaviours
resetting after frustration
showing up again the next week
The boys learnt: Fall → Reset → Go again.
That became more than a surf lesson.
It became a life lesson.
One participant wrote the programme had: “made me think differently.”
Another shared: “[I enjoyed] surfing with bros and it really helped me getting to know the adults the lunch's the yummy food and learning and life discussions.”
The feedback overall was incredibly strong:
87.5% rated the programme 5/5
Average recommendation score was 4.88/5
100% said they would return to Youth Encounter programmes
Participants also rated staff, safety, organisation, food, and activities as excellent.
One of the most powerful things to witness was the group journey itself.
At the beginning some boys were nervous, lacked confidence, or struggled with emotional regulation. But over time trust grew, emotional honesty increased, leadership emerged, and resilience strengthened.
By the final celebration, these young men were standing in front of whānau speaking publicly with gratitude and confidence. That’s significant growth in just eight weeks.
A huge thank you to our whānau, staff team, volunteers, lunch supporters, and funding partners who made this journey possible.
We are incredibly proud of these boys. And this is only the beginning.
🌊 Live Life Wide Open
