Another grant for diving is now in effect. One good thing is that part of the program is free to anyone. The idea sounds wonderful until you start looking at the statistics: cost versus the number of new recruits that are brought in.
        It is interesting again to watch how the Education and Safety Committee is using its statistical analysis to justify its Dive Safe Gold link course offering. To an outsider, one coaching membership for every seven put through the course is not a good return on the original investment.  The initial program put out at least $1452 for instructor stipends with a return of $600 in new membership. These costs do not include the actual grant money assigned to the project or the travel costs for the instructors. From the information available, good business sense again is no where to be found.
        One issue that was not considered in the statistical data is that there will be retirements in the future. With regard to the Education and Safety data, the number of retirements could equal the number of new coaches thereby showing no increase in coaching numbers after four years. US Diving can not afford to operate in the red or without coaches.
        The quality versus quantity argument used by the Education and Safety Committee to justify this new program is a philosophical one at best. If your coaching numbers are down and you really want to increase them, why would you be so picky about who your coaches are? There aren't many people around who can coach diving in the first place. When dividing the US Diving coaching numbers on a state by state basis, 11 coaches per state is not a very big number to start with and after 4 years, according to the Education and Safety Committee, that number may go all the way up to 12.6 coaches per state. The Safety committee makes it appear that people are breaking down the doors to coach diving. Obviously they are not. I truly believe diving is at the point where quantity had better happen and sooner than the Safety Committee's projections.
         Since this is a discussion on questionable funding practices, creating new interest in the sport starts from the bottom not from the top. In order for Diving to get attention, marketing the sport is a necessary endeavor. It must get exposure in the media. Television coverage gives the sport the greatest exposure, especially with the Pan Am, Good Will and Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the upper level (elite) benefits the most. $386,000 of grant money was spent on divers that couldn't afford to pay coaching fees. These are not the little age group kids. $210,000 was paid for Television coverage of diving. I believe that US Diving is doing the right thing in marketing but from my perspective, it does not serve the largest segment of the diving community, the grass roots. $50,000 was paid for the development of a user friendly computer program to manage meets. $13,000 was spent for a design of a Prototype Dive Center. $20,000 was spent to develop a web site. All total $679,000 was spent to market diving at the elite level last year. I don't believe that one dime of the above money was spent with any thought of the grass roots.
          No one thinks about where the next elite divers come from. They are the age group kids that are 9, 10 and 11 years old. They are not elite divers but they are the future of the sport. When they see the Televised events, they will develop an inspired interest in diving and go to their local pool finding that there are no diving boards or coaches there. Where will the future of diving be?
        Lastly, rumor has it that our technical director is having second thoughts about the “Chinese Way”.  He was heard to say, “Maybe it is time to try something else”. That may be the best news Diving has had recently since the Chinese Way hasn't seemed to be working. Our last Gold medal was 1992 for men and 1976 for the women. The ultimate question is, “Will US Diving make any changes?” We'll just have to wait and see.
 
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