I personally think another club would be a great idea, but hard to get off the ground. At least if it was a Western branch of the Southern Freedivers, you already have a name and established forum to utilize.

Also if you could split the member funding by transfering some of the current western districts boys over to the new branch it would help the cash situation. Could probably have the insurance cover both branches too??

I don't really know about the logistics but it's probably your best bet at getting something started over that side. A bit of east coast west coast rivalry would get the comps a bit more interesting.. You could also have similar agendas for the club meeting such as boater awareness, ab disease,etc. All you'd need to do is allocate a Westside El Presidente!

Waste of time. Getting a new club up and running would be fuck load of work & getting that club to survive would be even more of a fuck load of work. Southern Freedivers is/will be the only club in Vic for many many years to come.

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It's shining in the harbour....

IMHO i reackon its a great idea its not impossiable to do
old man and his mates setup the bellarine fly fishing club bit of determination and persverince it can be done

even if for the firts few meeting till the club was up off the ground you had the meetn in one of the member garage it still a go that how the bellerine fly fishers started

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A Balanced diet is a bundy in both hands
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Yes IH I know there is a bit of work involved but a bit of hard work never killed anyone so they say. Ive sent a couple of emails to AUF folk but got no replies. I plan to have things up and running by next season, the first couple of meetings are quite likely to be in my shed or a pub somewhere with about 1/2 doz folks who seem really keen.

P.S. can someone tell me who is the right person to get in touch with at the AUF.

sounds like a great idea if it was like a branch of southern freedivers

the danny heaver you speak of is alive & well, him being me ! Yes, I was a member ( & proud of it ) of the Bulldogs ... in the era of Bruce Lowenthal, Les Bell, Lou Hadju,"JB", Len Joyce etc. I live in Geelong now ( 5 years odd ) still a diver at heart, but no buddies,so no diving ! Ah, for the good old days !

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Go for it Greg I know there is plenty of interest in the West for a club, a lot of juniors and young blokes from Geelong and Werribee way are hoping for it. You probably have more of a chance reviving an old club than trying to start a new one which might tempt some older divers to come back who was involved in those days. Otherwise a SFD Western Branch might be a option but I'm SFD through and through and will still drive my 1 and a half hours to the club meetings.

I was keen to do this but out of the half dozen starters I had lined up one moved to Queensland, one moved to Reedy Ck. and my Dad got cancer. Two juniors that Were keen I haven't seen or heard from in over a year. The whole thing just got put in the too hard basket after that.

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i'd be keen to join the west side club... and i know another 2 other people that would

Yep, I'd join up for a Westside club too. Happy for it just to be a "Western Branch" of the SFD! This topic seems to come up quite a bit but nothing eventuates.. how to get the ball rolling?

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I'd be keen to join over this side too.. but i wouldn't be able to contribute much at the club level, Just be a member...

I'm not a member of SFD but if a club did start up in the west, a few mates and myself would def join up as dandy is a bit far from torquay.
We'd def like to meet fellow spearos to dive with and gain knowledge off.

i wouldnt actually mind seeing a club start up around warragul/ morwell/ traralgon... etc... i know it's inland but they could host trips or whatever

Any more talk of a club starting up?? Or a western branch of the SFD?

Few of us down here at torquay are keen for something to start up!

You have the basis. Why not start your own club/association/group/gang/collective and see what local (and not so local) interest you can stir. You already dive together. Add more to your tribe/clan/family.