Learning to plait hair on a mannequin head isn’t your average Sunday arvo at the local club, but that’s exactly what a group of mid-north coast dads will do at Club Scotts this weekend.
The first-ever “Beers, Braids and BBQs” event, running Sunday, 19 July, will see local fathers, uncles and grandfathers swap the front bar chat for braiding tips, all in the name of connecting with the girls in their lives.
The idea is the brainchild of Club Scotts Secretary Manager Mark Singh, who first spotted the concept online.
“So I saw it online a few months ago, it started in the UK, went to two dads over there and they called it Pints and Ponytails,” Mr Singh said.
Mr Singh, who has two daughters and a son, said the trend reflected a broader shift among fathers wanting to be more present and engaged.
“I think every girl growing up, their first, real love is their dad, and they look up to their dad and they, every other bloke that they’ll ever meet, kind of your father sets the standard,” he said.
For Mr Singh, the turning point came when his own daughter was left in tears at the bus stop, unable to untangle a knotted hair tie before school.
“It wasn’t until like the other week that I actually realised how important my daughter’s hair is to her and how she looks when she goes out, when she goes to school and stuff,” he said.
He turned her home instead of sending her off distressed, giving her time to sort her hair before he drove her to school himself. It was, he said, a wake-up call.
Mr Singh road-tested the format before bringing it to Club Scotts, attending a similar night called Schooners and Scrunchies at the Macleay Hotel, run by Tim Smith.
“There was probably about 10 of us dads. We’re all having a joke and a laugh and stuff, but to begin with, hey mate, how you going? How’s your name? What’s your name? And then throughout the night, you know, how many kids you got?” Mr Singh said.
He said the club setting, rather than a salon, was central to getting blokes through the door.
“If you were to try and do this in an actual hair salon, blokes wouldn’t come to it,” he said. “But the fact that there’s a beer involved in a casual, relaxed environment, and we can have a BBQ as well, and it’s a bit of a play on words, why not?”
Running the class will be Katie, from Ophira Hair, a newly opened salon at Scotts Head. Katie is married to Club Scotts duty manager Ben, who put her in touch with Mr Singh.
Each participant will work on their own mannequin head, learning techniques such as plaits and ponytails, with Katie on hand to explain the tips, tricks and terminology.
Mr Singh said he was hoping for a strong turnout, but wasn’t setting the bar too high for the first event.
“Look, if I get 10 dads, I’ll be absolutely stoked,” he said.
He said the club was already looking at running the event again if there was demand, pointing to the success of its monthly Paint and Sips sessions as a model.
“Off the back of that, you always get something called FOMO where blokes go, geez, I wish I did that now. Well, then we’ll probably do it in a month’s time again and give other dads a chance to come along,” Mr Singh said.
Tickets are $30 and include a beer and a barbecue lunch. Spots can be booked through Club Scotts’ Facebook event page or website.
For Mr Singh, the event is about more than hairstyling.
“It’s not just about older people and lawn bowls and, the bistro and Keno and watching sport,” he said. “Community clubs are for everyone.”
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