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About BSAC A brief history of the life and times of BSAC. There's nothing like experience Building on rock - the foundation of the BSAC system.. Evolution & Development How BSAC developed its renowned training system. Trail Blazers Some interesting moments from the BSAC story. |
Evolution and developmentIn its earliest days sport diving was somewhat limited by the range and type of equipment available. Enthusiasm was never in short supply but it was not unusual to find that you were the third member to borrow one of the Branch's dry suits on a dive trip, and one of the other two had suffered a leak. The shortage of equipment also made it difficult to equip both the instructor and the student during a pool training session.During the early 60s, diving holidays in warmer waters became popular and this raised the requirement for organised training, one of the major contributors being the Club Mediterranée, a French holiday company. Some of its early instructors were BSAC members who brought home with them some valuable experience and ideas which were injected into the BSAC's existing training programme. The very first Instructor Training Courses were run in Branches in the London area and this soon developed into a weekend Club Instructor Course/Exam which was held at venues all around the UK. This was the beginning of the introduction into Branches of a structured training programme which helped to establish standards of instruction. The Club Instructor Grade was established, permitting the holder to instruct students in the pool or sheltered waters, and in the classroom. At about the same time a grouping of professional instructors was formed under the name National Underwater Instructors Association (NUIA) and, with the support of the Royal Navy, a National Instructor qualification was established, together with the prerequisites and the examination procedures. There was to be close co-operation between the BSAC and the NUIA in the development of the BSAC Instructor Training Scheme. As the number of qualified BSAC Club Instructors grew a need was seen for a second grade of instructor to teach open water diving skills and the Advanced Instructor Course and BSAC Advanced Instructor Examination were set up to meet this. As a logical develoment of this process the NUIA agreed to hand over the responsibility for its qualification to the BSAC and the BSAC National Instructor qualification was established. This pattern of Instructor Training events operated for a number of years, evolving eventually into the current structure explained fully at Instructor Training Scheme. |
BSAC TRAINING FURTHER INSTRUCTION |