Early History of the Club

With thanks to John Babbage for supplying the information.

The club was loosely formed in September 1991 by members of the West Yorkshire Police underwater search unit and some partners.  The grand total of 6 members.  These members were Colin Bryan , Sandra Bryan,Judy Illingworth, John Illingworth, Graham Oliver, and John Babbage.

The first committee meeting was held on 12/11/1991 with the committee comprising of Chairman, Superintendant Rees, Vice Chairman, Alan Kitson, Secretary John Illingworth Diving Officer and temporary Treasurer Colin Bryan.  This meeting agreed to start off with a try a dive session at Morley Leisure centre at a cost of £5, the first one being 0n 10th October 1992 , and a meeting afterwards in the bar, (seems to be popular this). Cost of training was £1 per night plus 35p for entrance into the pool.  The subscription at this time was £2 per month.

The first year membership rose to 40 and thanks to fundraising activities and a grant from the West Yorkshire Police Athletic Association £3600 worth of equipment was purchased, this included cylinders, regulators and stab jackets.

The AGM in November was held at the Vine Tree public house, with the pool sessions being held initially at Morley Baths before moving to Thornes Park School.  This became the home of W.Y.P.S.A.C. for 15 years or so until the recent move to Rothwell Sports Centre. 

It was decided to give an annual award to a member who had achieved their goals personally but also who had given most to benefit the club. The award was to be a crystal statuette of a diver to keep and a a Rose Bowl trophy to be returned at the end of the year .  The first recipient of this DIVER of the YEAR award was John Babbage 1992 This continues to present day. The list of Rose Bowl recipients are below.

Around 1994 our current boat, "Juno" was purchased and the club was awarded the SAA Golden Club Award, this is awarded each year at the SAA AGM,

In September the club assisted in the running of a National Triathlon competition held at Pugneys Country Park in Wakefield, from which the club received nothing but praise from the organisers and the competitors. 

Membership currently stands at around 50 with quite a few trips being run throughout the year both at home and abroad, see the what's on page or have a look at the calendar.

Below are a few original documents pertaining to the original setting up of the club, these include the original request to the Chief Constable to set up the club plus the original minutes of the first ever club meeting.

Set Up Request 1

Set Up Request 2

Minutes 1

Minutes 2

Treasurers Report

Rose Bowl Recipients