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Starting
a Local Dive Club
We
get a number of requests from divers concerning starting a local
dive club. So we enlisted the help of several successful clubs
to give some suggestions. Starting a club requires a lot of time
and effort, but the end result is very gratifying when your club
becomes established and divers in your area have a club to call
their own.
First, make sure there is a need. Check around, there may be other
clubs. Check with your local dive center, they may know of a club
or they may sponsor one themselves. If nothing is available, then
you will just have to start from scratch. Don't try to go it alone.
Find at least several divers who are willing to dedicate their
time and effort. And even before you start canvasing for new members,
plan, plan, plan. Members will not stick around if there is no
organization and/or goals.
The Underwater Society of American has a manual on 'How to Form
a Dive Club.' It is in 3 ring binder form. It is available for
$20 including postage.
Table of contents includes
- guidelines
- sample bylaws
- sample membership form
- sample club newsletters
- sample waiver of liability
and more..
Contact:
Carol
Rose
President USOA
CROSEUSOA@aol.com
Jack Millard - Dolphin Dive Club of Sacramento
We formed in 1980 as a nonprofit incorporated organization, since
then the cost to incorporate has skyrocketed. We have about 100
members of which
about 20 are very active and the rest vary in their participation,
I think you will find this to be typical. We meet one night every
month at a local pizza parlor with a large meeting area and a
big screen TV and screen to present videos and slides. At our
meeting last night we had about 50 members and guests. The best
way to recruit new members and to keep those you have is to stage
many activities the group enjoys. I will attach a copy of the
introduction page we give out to explain our group. We try and
maintain a good relationship with all of the area dive shops and
encourage them to support us by referring new divers to us and
by contributing to our various events. We also invite them to
make presentations at our meeting about their trips and equipment
without making a direct sales pitch which would turn off our members.
We charge dues for different classes of membership. An individual
membership costs $30.00 per year, a family membership costs $35.00
and a student membership is only $15.00. We try to keep the kids
active by organizing fun
things for them to do while the parents are diving. Our major
fund raiser every year is a charter to dive on a liveaboard in
southern California which typically makes us about $3,000.00 per
year. We use this money to subsidize other events so a member
actually receives about $50.00 in benefits for the $30.00 dues
if they participate in all of our activities.I hope this helps.
Let me know if you would like to see a copy of our membership
application an/or club bylaws. We hired an attorney to write our
application to try and insulate us from liability. We have a web
page at
http://www.DolphinDivers.org
From Dennis Vines - Hammerheads Dive
Club
I would like to first of all suggest that people look into starting
a local chapter of the HammerHeads. As DEMA helps to sponsor it,
the H-Heads are a good organization. However, if that doesn't
appeal to some folks, then they might well benefit from a few
other ideas. We, as divers, should feel privileged to be able
to
experience the underwater world. Scuba diving grows in popularity
each year, yet we still belong to a somewhat elite group. There
are things we can do to help maintain our own interest and to
get other divers interested and excited. Do you have a local dive
club? If so, get involved with it. New members are always welcomed
and appreciated. However, if there is no club in your area, why
not get with some of your dive buddies and start one? Dive clubs
can be lots of fun and provide an avenue for divers to stay involved
year round. Regular club meetings can provide a social activity,
through dinner and a meeting, and new learning experiences through
interaction with divers of various experience levels, guest speakers,
and slide shows. Clubs can schedule monthly dives (or more often)
to the local water hole, and schedule periodic trips to farther
destinations. Clubs can get involved with the community with activities
such as clean-ups in or around dive sites. The whole idea of a
club is to bring divers together and provide a forum to pursue
common interests.
If you think you would be interested in getting a club started
in your area, you must be willing to invest the time and effort
to make it work. Find others divers that share your excitement
about diving and the prospect of a club. Plan out the details
carefully, and divide the work among your initial core group.
And even though it will be a lot of work in the beginning, the
rewards of a club will be great.
A dive club should be a useful resource to its members, providing
them with social interaction, a source of continued education
and dive buddies. Clubs provide a common focus for members who
have common interests such as spearfishing, wreck diving, trips
to tropical islands, or other such specialized interests. Clubs
should pass along safety and environmental information and provide
incentive for active participation in diving activities.
Unlimited Sunshine & Blue Waters,
Dennis Vines |
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