Members go snorkelling at Seacliff Bay
Edinburgh University SAC
Here is a club that styles itself as a big scuba family , managed a lot of great diving and recruitment in the beleaguered 2020 season and continues to push the boundaries of what a uni branch can achieve . Interview by Kristina Pedder
LOCATION : Edinburgh , Scotland
MEMBERSHIP FEE : £ 40 /£ 65 ( student / nonstudent )/£ 20 snorkelling , plus BSAC
CONTACT : e Sub . aqua @ ed . ac . uk ! www . eusac . co . uk I B @ edunisac ( Great social media )
26
Edinburgh University SAC , three-times winner of the Heinke Trophy , is a long-standing club formed in the late 1960s . University clubs are difficult to sustain , as every three or four years most club members leave , and there goes the accumulated experience . Balancing the need to train new members who will stick around while also diving for fun is hard ,
Posing up a storm in Malta and uni clubs can struggle with instructor burnout . It ' s important to meet the needs of students and non-students , at the same time adhering to university rules .
Uni clubs suffer a misconception : “ just beer snorkels .” Instead , EUSAC offers a full calendar of training and diving , with higher numbers of trainees than many other clubs . They do a lot of shore diving ( and even the occasional beer snorkel ), but in EUSAC , members are pushing the boundaries of what a uni club can achieve through selfsufficient expedition diving , a technical group , a year-round diving calendar , and varied interests . They say : “ Don ’ t believe the stereotypes , there ’ s so much potential there . If you have a uni club near your branch , strike up a good relationship , it ’ s definitely mutually beneficial .”
Who can join EUSAC ?
Branch 407 is a BSAC special branch with a 20-per-cent cap on non-students , not including those with instructor qualifications . Members include current and former University of Edinburgh students , staff , other universities ’ students , and people with no association to the university . Since most non-students have an instructor qualification , the cap isn ’ t an issue .