Barrie Scott
President 1974 - 1979
Head Coach 1973 - 1983
Committee member 1972 - 1979
Life member 1976
In 1969 after seeing a notice in the local paper inviting interested people to join in the formation of a swimming club for the district, Barrie Scott and his family attended the first gathering at the Tea Tree Gully Swimming Centre. Ray Ridell had initiated this meeting and so the Tea Tree Gully Amateur Swimming Club was duly formed. At this stage his 3 older children, Christina, Andrew and Matthew joined and Justin followed when he was old enough. They all developed into strong swimmers.
Although Barrie had no experience as a swimming coach, he had been an instructor with the Tea Tree Gully Youth Club for some time and had coached junior football, so it was inevitable that he would soon become involved in coaching swimmers when help was needed. Not being a strong swimmer himself he therefore read and studied books and manuals on coaching methods and the intricate rules governing the four strokes so he could be the best coach possible and he had the knack of imparting this knowledge to his swimmers.
Barrie had great organisational skills and everything he did was meticulously planned with no details left to chance. Over the many years of his involvement with the club he planned and implemented all the carnivals and special events within the club, the presentation nights and Christmas parties, supervised the other coaches, organised and supervised the team when we entered the S.A. Interclub Competition, kept records and compiled articles which were published regularly in the Messenger.
The Club used to train at Waterworld on two evenings a week and on Sunday mornings at 7.00 am. we held our Time Trials. This was in the days of the COLD water pool and all the foundation members will have the memory of diving into icy water, etched in their minds forever. They were brave. We parents would be dressed in our warm clothes while we kept time or did judging and had copious hot drinks and warm blankets at the ready for our frozen children between events.
When the pool closed for winter an arrangement was negotiated for the club to train 2 nights a week at Strathmont Centre in their heated pool and we held our club events there too.
As the years passed our first members became strong swimmers and they as well as the younger members would compete in City and Country Carnivals. Barrie would obtain all the details and plans would be made as to who would attend and make arrangements. These carnivals were greatly enjoyed by swimmers and families alike and many trophies were won over the years.
Barrie was the coach of the Senior swimming group and in 1973 he was appointed Head Coach and over the years he had great support from the coaches of the other groups. His most valued assistant was Don Richards who supported him for many years.
The T.T.G.A.S.C. was a successful club and though we were a smaller club, Barrie was proud of the respect we had gained over the years. He was always well supported by a strong and dedicated band of parents on the committee and he became President as well as Senior Coach and ultimately a Life Member in 1976.
Barrie thought it important for swimmers to be involved in all aspects of the club and aim to be worthy members and so he dedicated The Barrie Scott Trophy for The Most Conscientious Senior Member who set standards for younger members to follow.
Barrie loved his years of coaching at the swimming club and the interaction with the members and their families and it was with great sadness that he had to eventually resign because of the Multiple Sclerosis that ultimately claimed his life.