The Moose Jaw Barracudas Scuba Club (BSC) will hold its last event at Lovering Lake on June 12 before shutting down permanently due to lack of membership.
The club dates back to the 1980s and was formed to bring local enthusiasts together to share their passion for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) diving.
BSC’s shutdown follows the demise of their main gathering and training location, the Scuba Guys’ Dive Shop, which closed along with numerous other businesses in 2018-2019 due to the infamous High Street West construction fiasco.
The club said in a release that they had enjoyed a very close connection to the Scuba Guys’ Dive Shop, calling it the glue that held the club together. Dive shop co-owners Gregg Bathgate and Curtis Temple, who died in 2021, were long-time dive buddies who built a high-quality business that was hugely supportive of the local dive community.
BSC membership peaked at around 40 members, whose weekend dive getaways included East Blue Lake, Manitoba; Child’s Lake, Manitoba; Waterton National Park, Alberta, and many northern Saskatchewan locations.
Members also enjoyed winter dive getaways in the Caribbean together.
With funding support from Saskatchewan Parks, Recreation, and Culture, BSC purchased dive equipment to rent to newcomers and infrequent divers, and taught many Introduction to Scuba classes in Moose Jaw and the surrounding area.
The steady addition of new divers through Intro classes, along with the central gathering location at the Scuba Guys’ Dive Shop, kept club members close and club dives well attended.
After they lost the dive shop, said club member Brian Lanktree, COVID put the final nail in the coffin. In-person training and advanced diving certifications moved online, as did the club’s meetings. Membership continued to erode.
Nevertheless, the last official event at Lovering Lake — considered the club’s “home lake” — will be a celebration of scuba as a hobby and of the years BSC members have enjoyed together.
“Diving is an addictive sport for many,” Lanktree said. “Once you start, you want to advance through more training, which in turn allows you to dive in many more conditions, such as deep dives, wreck dives, and even ice diving. … Many of us went on to become Rescue Divers and then on to Dive Masters and beyond.”
Tuesday nights were the BSC Dive Night. Members would meet at the dive shop, refill their tanks, buy any supplies they needed, and head to Lovering Lake. These regular dive nights helped new divers gain experience and confidence.
“We want to express our great appreciation for all those who took their dive course through Scuba Guys’ Dive Shop, became members of the Moose Jaw Barracudas Diving and Snorkel Club, and took part in all the activities we hosted,” the club release reads. “There comes a time when we have to face the reality that we are not sustainable with the membership numbers we have.”
The June 12 “Last Hurrah” event at Lovering Lake begins at 10 a.m. Prizes, a potluck style lunch, snacks, and fun are promised.
Email mjbarracudas@gmail.com by June 2 to confirm your attendance.
