The Regional Coach
As a keen sixteen-year old inspired by television such as The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, I joined my local diving club, Birmingham 25 Branch of the BSAC, and trained to become a diver. This cumulated in my first ever open water dive: a night-time snorkel circumnavigation of Dosthill Quarry, following the bubbles of two scuba-divers! More than a few years later I remain an active diving member of the same branch, and enjoy all types of diving – anything from a dip on the James Egan Lane from my own RIB to a mixed gas liveaboard expedition seeking previously undived wrecks in the mid-Channel. And I've even dived in clear blue tropical waters on a few occasions.
My diving instructing career began in 1991. Currently I am an Advanced Instructor and also work as an Instructor Trainer on the Instructor Training Scheme.
Prior to taking over as Regional Coach in January 2007 I was assistant to the previous incumbent, and was pleased to support two new initiatives in the region which will help the Coaching Team to help the branches and members. Firstly we launched our new website
westmidlands.bsacregions.org which has proved to be a great asset: it allows members to book directly onto skill development courses and provides a behind‑the‑scenes information and management system for the team. Secondly we introduced dedicated 'coordinators' i.e. team members specifically responsible for a number of development areas ranging from Dive Leader through Open Water Instructor to First Class Diver. Each coordinator will be a contact point for assistance with training, support and advice for their area of responsibility. For their contact details, please visit our website.
One of the main roles of the coaching team is to support our branches. To do this we have a team of Area Coaches, each of whom looks after a number of branches. Supported by the other team members, they visit branches to offer support, bring news and training updates, and can also provide help for in‑branch skill development courses. If your branch wants to run a course then please contact the Coaching Team who will be happy to help.
Over the past few years we have put considerable effort into providing training to help with Advanced Diver and Advanced Instructor grades. We provided both theory and practical sessions to help those who were interested in attaining these grades. This year this has been extended to include First Class and the technical diving grades.
So What's a Regional/Area Coach then?
We are divers who are experienced in many different things. Most of us are instructors, and many teach on the ITS.
The Regional Coach is appointed by the National Diving Officer together with BSAC HQ, and their role is to manage the region and the team of coaches and instructors.
The region is broken down into smaller areas with each area having an assigned Area Coach. Each coach will look after up to 10 Branches and act as a reference point for them. They are not there to act as policing for BSAC, but to assist the Branches in teaching, technical matters, committee issues in fact anything related to Branch operations.
In addition there are a team of instructors who teach on the SDC's run within the regions. The role of the Regional Coach is to manage a programme of local events. This is only possible due to the assistance of the instructors and the SDC co-ordinators.
The whole team is there to assist you the divers and Branches!
I wish you all safe and happy diving.
Mark Callaghan
This page was last updated on : 08 Jun 2008
