YMCA and Y-Scuba

[Trace Malinowski]

Any YMCA instructor who would like to continue to teach SCUBA diving without having to deal with any hassles or corporate greed or pressure please contact me. PDIC can offer you stability and allows you to teach excellent diving from recreational to technical levels. Crossovers are $650.00 including materials and you may actually learn a lot from me as your instructor trainer especially regarding advanced and specialty instruction which is skipped by most agencies when developing instructors. All, there is a reason I've been with PDIC as an instructor since 1989 -- my BS meter can't deal with most agencies.

~ Trace

 

[Walter]

That's a nice offer, Trace, but I don't believe a crossover will be necessary. The Y program will be continuing; it just won't have the affiliation with the YMCA of the USA.

 

[EastcoastdiverLLC]

I’m actually glad someone put this out. I was personally a little hesitant.

My organization for one will continue with the "Y program" as long as we can, at least through our last scheduled classes in October.

I’m also another training center that will throw my full support to Tom in his endeavor to maintain the program under new management.

Whatever the brand name, we will remain the oldest certifying agency, with the some of the highest standards!

The brand name is really of no consequence, although it’s disheartening to see how this has been handled by the YMCA of the USA. I believe this will be remembered as the best thing for the agency. YSCUBA has been languishing under corporate control.

With the same high standards, material, and Tom’s leadership YSCUBA will simply live on under a different name and “Formally the YMCA SCUBA Program”.

This program under whatever management will remain part of the course offerings of East Coast Diver LLC.

That’s my 2 cents,
Gary

 

[sphillips3]

I may be among the last YMCA Instructors ever certified. I am expecting my YMCA Instructor card in the next week or so, as soon as I get my insurance paperwork to YSCUBA headquarters.

First - I'm a bit miffed about a couple of aspects of how the program is being shut down:

1) YMCA was very happy to accept my check for Instructor certification, but it turns out that I will have a grand total of about 5 months to teach under the Y banner. Thanks. A little more advance notice would have been appreciated.

2) Whether Y tried and failed or did not try at all, there is no apparent method of quickly migrating the current Y instructors over to another agency. We are being cut loose and are going to have to pay whatever the market will bear to cross over. And I have to do all this during the peak training and diving season here in the Northeast. Thanks again.

I've just started to come down for the incredible high of passing my Instructor boards and this is truly a bummer. The thought of having to get all amped up for yet another set of skills demonstrations and written exams is really, really depressing. A little of the fire has gone out. I'll get over it but I'm a little jaded on the entire subject of certification agencies right now.

Anyway - enough complaining - This turn of events is indeed a shame, but I believe on balance it may be for the best. The Y program has an excellent philosophy but the actual implementation of the program has just not kept up with modern technology. As I look for a new agency these are some things I'll be looking for:

1) A modern and efficient method of registering students for classes. The Y "sanction" system outdated, cumbersome and very inflexible. A modern (i.e. web-based and/or e-mail) system is a necessity.

2) Current, easily distributed lecture support materials. Powerpoints, web-based training, electronic instructor guides and student workbooks. I'm willing to pay a fair price but having to run down to Kinkos every month to make copies of 10+ year old Open Water student guides is really a drag.

3) Regular feedback and support from the "Mother Ship". as noted above, the last issue of Currents was over a year ago. I want to hear what is going on with the program, have a system for making suggestions for improvements and generally feel like part of a cadre of instructors.

4) Obviously the flexibility in teaching methods and content that is core to the "Y" program is a must. I hate being locked into a mandatory, inflexible checklist of what to teach and how to teach it. Every student and every instructor is different and the program should recognize this. There will of course be a minimum set of standards (e.g. ANSI minimums)

5) A set of specialties that does not depend on certifcation from other agencies. I should be able to get approval to teach Nitrox without having to go to another agency for Nitrox Instructor certification (and dry suit, etc).

It looks like I'll be agency shopping at DEMA!

 

[captndale]

The YMCA program was once the leader in scuba education. It is a shame that the YMCA program is ending but its downward course has been apparent ever since Robert Smith relinquished the helm in the 80's. The YMCA of the USA has never really been interested in supporting the instructors in the field. The best thing that could happen now would be for Tom Leird to take over the program and breath new life into it. It just might save the program and make it into a new force for quality instruction.

 

[Walter]

A modern and efficient method of registering students for classes. The Y "sanction" system outdated, cumbersome and very inflexible. A modern (i.e. web-based and/or e-mail) system is a necessity.

That's one way the YMCA of the USA was hindering YSCUBA. It was one of those things that was put into effect after the YMCA of the USA pulled YSCUBA in from having its own separate office. It's a fairly recent development and one of the reasons I retired from teaching about a year and a half ago. I do not expect the revamped program to retain it. I strongly suspect it will go back to the old method of teaching and sending in your completed certification forms after the fact. There's absolutely no reason to require sanctions.

Whether Y tried and failed or did not try at all, there is no apparent method of quickly migrating the current Y instructors over to another agency. We are being cut loose and are going to have to pay whatever the market will bear to cross over. And I have to do all this during the peak training and diving season here in the Northeast.

While I agree the YMCA of the USA has let a great many people down, the leaders of YSCUBA, especially Tom Leaird, Dan C. Marelli, Pete Plocher and many others are working to see you are not cut loose, that YSCUBA will continue so that a crossover and extra expenses for you will not be necessary.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I may be among the last YMCA Instructors ever certified. I am expecting my YMCA Instructor card in the next week or so, as soon as I get my insurance paperwork to YSCUBA headquarters.

First - I'm a bit miffed about a couple of aspects of how the program is being shut down:

1) YMCA was very happy to accept my check for Instructor certification, but it turns out that I will have a grand total of about 5 months to teach under the Y banner. Thanks. A little more advance notice would have been appreciated.

2) Whether Y tried and failed or did not try at all, there is no apparent method of quickly migrating the current Y instructors over to another agency. We are being cut loose and are going to have to pay whatever the market will bear to cross over. And I have to do all this during the peak training and diving season here in the Northeast. Thanks again.

I've just started to come down for the incredible high of passing my Instructor boards and this is truly a bummer. The thought of having to get all amped up for yet another set of skills demonstrations and written exams is really, really depressing. A little of the fire has gone out. I'll get over it but I'm a little jaded on the entire subject of certification agencies right now.

Anyway - enough complaining - This turn of events is indeed a shame, but I believe on balance it may be for the best. The Y program has an excellent philosophy but the actual implementation of the program has just not kept up with modern technology. As I look for a new agency these are some things I'll be looking for:

1) A modern and efficient method of registering students for classes. The Y "sanction" system outdated, cumbersome and very inflexible. A modern (i.e. web-based and/or e-mail) system is a necessity.

2) Current, easily distributed lecture support materials. Powerpoints, web-based training, electronic instructor guides and student workbooks. I'm willing to pay a fair price but having to run down to Kinkos every month to make copies of 10+ year old Open Water student guides is really a drag.

3) Regular feedback and support from the "Mother Ship". as noted above, the last issue of Currents was over a year ago. I want to hear what is going on with the program, have a system for making suggestions for improvements and generally feel like part of a cadre of instructors.

4) Obviously the flexibility in teaching methods and content that is core to the "Y" program is a must. I hate being locked into a mandatory, inflexible checklist of what to teach and how to teach it. Every student and every instructor is different and the program should recognize this. There will of course be a minimum set of standards (e.g. ANSI minimums)

5) A set of specialties that does not depend on certifcation from other agencies. I should be able to get approval to teach Nitrox without having to go to another agency for Nitrox Instructor certification (and dry suit, etc).

It looks like I'll be agency shopping at DEMA!

Those are all the things I enjoy about NAUI.

I do wish their instructor kits were a little better, but since I like to customize the curriculum to better suit local diving conditions, that's really a minor thing.

Everything else on your list suits NAUI to a T ... you should definitely check 'em out.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I'm in the same boat as Steve(sphillips33). He and I were in the same instructor class and in fact just taught a pool session together last night. I'm doing the physics and physiology lecture for them tonite. I sincerely hope Tom gets things going. I hope to talk to him in the near future. Things are kinda busy right now. I got a call from Audra at the Y today. She got my insurance update that I faxed last night and I should be getting my stuff in a week or so. . But again one of the things that kinda bugs me is I have to also get a letter from a local Y to get sanctions. The letter has to state that "they support Y instructor(s) teaching Y scuba in their service area, and view it as a program for their members and the community. THE TRAINING DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE PLACE AT A YMCA." (capitals mine).

They are dropping the program yet want a local chapters ok for me to teach? Even if it's at another facility? I teach through the same shop Steve does obviously. However I also live in an area that does not compete with this shop and have the ok to use another shops facility(pool) to teach those who do not want to travel the 45-60 minutes into the city to take classes for 6 weeks. For example my brother lives nearly 1 1/ 2 hours south(with traffic) of the shop that we teach thru at the Y. He lives 30 minutes or less from the shop near my home. Where should I tell him to go with gas at 4 bucks a gallon.

Problem is the Y in my town was shut down to make room for an Insurance Company building. Kinda like putting a crack house in a church. So I guess I must get a letter from the Y that serves this area of my residence. It's 45 minutes away, I've never been there, and would most likely never teach there. Does not make alot of sense. Anyway gotta go, have students to impart my knowledge, wisdom, and experience to.

 

[reeb]

"While I agree the YMCA of the USA has let a great many people down, the leaders of YSCUBA, especially Tom Leaird, Dan C. Marelli, Pete Plocher and many others are working to see you are not cut loose, that YSCUBA will continue so that a crossover and extra expenses for you will not be necessary." -Walter

Thank you Walter, its important people w/ YMCA leadership understand this.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

That's a nice offer, Trace, but I don't believe a crossover will be necessary. The Y program will be continuing; it just won't have the affiliation with the YMCA of the USA.

That's a good thing, Walter. It would actually be a shame to lose the YMCA and you guys will probably do better without the YMCA of the USA. The sanctioning procedure is a PITA for me as a YMCA lifeguard instructor and I would imagine even moreso when the opportunity arises to start training a student right away. Will the YMCA lose its RSTC status now and have to reapply once away from the YMCA of the USA?