DAVE POGSON MEMORIAL BREEDERS TROPHY.

New members of a club might naturally wonder about the background of the people holding positions of authority in their chosen organisation. So I thought it would be a good idea to put on record, for the benefit of both new and long term members, a profile of the A.K.A.’s past President David Pogson.
It is notable that Dave was a foundation member of the AKA which came into existence in February 1981. Since that date, Dave had served the Club as it’s President on no less than 14 occasions and was honoured with life membership for his stewardship and in recognition of the many associations he had made in the Koi world both locally and internationally.

In those few years that he was not Club President, Dave had served in the role of Vice President and as Show Master/ Secretary which are also very important Club positions.
Dave’s involvement in Koi commenced in the mid 1960’s when the Koi keeping hobby was very much in its infancy. Dave built his stock pond in 1973, the pond measured 9.2 m x 6.1 m x .75 m in depth and held 27000 litres. Filtration was by means of an internal gravel filter, one of the first ( if not the first ) of its kind, at a time when biological filtration techniques were only just being developed for fish hobbyists generally in Australia. The fact that Dave’s pond has operated faultlessly since 1973, is mute testimony to the successful nature of gravel filters pioneered by Dave and other dedicated Koi enthusiasts.
As a young man David also indulged his interest in the breeding of budgerigars and, together with his father, was amongst the foundation members of the St, George District Budgerigar Society. “The knowledge gained from the rules of colour inheritance in budgerigars greatly assisted David in his later Koi breeding activities”. David helped found the Koi Society of Australia (KSA) in 1974. In 1981, David, together with some other KSA members, founded the AKA. Dave’s interest had taken him to the home of Koi in Japan on three separate occasions where he had observed the Japanese way of Koi keeping and refined its application to Australian conditions. As such, he had not been afraid to try new ideas, the successes of which are evident today in the quality of his Koi blood lines members still have.

David had but one request after his untimely passing in 1999, and that was to encourage the breeding and showing of quality Koi by as many Club Members as possible.
The Perpetual Breeders Memorial Trophy in David’s name is a lasting testimonial to a man who gave most of his adult life to Koi husbandry, development and improvement in Australia.