Gareth Morris, a BSAC overseas regional coach, is always ready to help clubs grow, and hasn’ t stopped nurturing his own skills. Interview by Kristina Pedder
FACTFILE
Name: Gareth Morris
Job titles: BSAC Australia Pacific Region Coach and Adelaide 0770 club chairman
First dive: 1994
VOLUNTEERLIFE Good on ya!
British-born First Class Diver Gareth Morris lives in Adelaide, South Australia. He is a member of Adelaide 0770 club and has been the BSAC Australia Pacific Regional Coach for the past two years, coordinating inter-club activity.
Geographically the region is huge, ranging west to Mauritius, north to Hong Kong, and south-east to New Zealand. Physical contact and training with some of the Australian clubs has been possible, hosting Regional Open Water Instructor and Advanced Instructor courses and exams in Adelaide, but much of the contact and support relies on video conferencing.
Gareth learnt to dive in North Wales in 1994, before joining Peterborough BSAC in 1995, a club that offered him great training and excellent wreck diving off the Norfolk coast.“ My career as an engineer made my early life quite transient,” Gareth tells me,“ I moved initially around the UK and then further afield to Hong Kong before finally settling in Australia.
“ Each destination has offered a BSAC dive club with great diving and a new circle of friends,” he says.“ The friendships and the social side of diving has been particularly important to me, and my volunteering follows from that. A lot of people have invested their time into various aspects of my training over the years, and volunteering is my way of paying back some of that investment.”
Gareth has held various club roles over
Gareth Morris, a BSAC overseas regional coach, is always ready to help clubs grow, and hasn’ t stopped nurturing his own skills. Interview by Kristina Pedder
Chartwork lesson in progress
TEACHINGHIGHLIGHT
“
Hosting National Diving Officer Sophie Rennie and three members from BSAC Brisbane in Adelaide for a regional Advanced Instructor Course and exam last year was a big step forward for BSAC Brisbane’ s instructor development. It also gave me some insights into the requirements for the National Instructor Examination, which I’ m keen to do.
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