West Midlands Region
Regional Coach
Mark Callaghan
Mark Callaghan
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.
I believe that as divers we should never stop trying to learn something new, and so in 2000 I began closed-circuit diving on an APD Inspiration rebreather. Following many years dabbling in underwater photography, more recently I've experimented with underwater videography; and last year finally fulfilled a long‑term ambition by qualifying as a First Class Diver.
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.
To find out more, please visit our website.
Some members of the team have specialist responsibilities, these are outlined below.
Skill Development Course Organisers
Nigel Spickett looks after all Skill Development Courses and can be mailed at wm.sdco@bsac.com
Snorkelling
To help improve contact with snorkel branches I appointed Martin Hammond as an area coach covering the snorkel branches around Birmingham. Martin is also be able to advise other branches in the region on snorkelling information. Martin's telephone contact details are below or e-mail martin.hammond@bsac.com
News
Mike Clack is the editor of our regional newsletter, and is always looking for news and articles for inclusion. Mike is also willing to give advise on producing branch news letters, if you are trying to produce a new newsletter and would like some guidance give Mike a call or e-mail him on mike.clack@bsac.com
As many of you will be aware in an attempt to keep members in the region up to date on course availability and other events in the region I have a set up an e-newsletter which I send this information to. If you would like to be added to the group please send a email to westmidsbsac@btconnect.com with SUBSCRIBE in the Subject field.
Please click in this link for Contact Details for Members of the Regional Team.
See here for a list of Events in the Region
Page last modified: 30th May 2007 - 09:15:43