I believe that for the last 2 years, I have made certain members of the Board very uncomfortable with some of the questions I have asked and some of the things I have done. I would like to share these with you along with some of my opinions.

I believe that you are about to lose control of your National Governing Board. Decisions are being made at this moment that will affect you and will be in place before the next Convention. The voting process won't matter. By that time everything will be set including your frustration with the outcome.

After reading all the articles on various web sites and talking with some of you, it struck me that board is not listening to any of its coaches. Walker's message on the web led me to that conclusion. LRPC is what he called it. Long Range Planning Committee is the official version. The secretive nature of this committee is what brought about my suspicions. As I see it, the plan is very simple. The board is and has been focused at the elite level. With the Olympics just around the corner, they are getting nervous because they know their plan will not be achieved and everyone else will know it too. Yes, they should focus on that level but not all of the time and at our expense. What happens to the rest of us? Where do they think our Olympians come from? Tom Gompf recently was quoted that in one international contest when our divers got their butts kicked, it was "the worst in our history". More recently, we got our butts kicked by Mexico's divers. I heard that Mexico spent $15,000 to beat us. I wonder what we spent on that thrashing?

Another coach also stated that our top women in the 1980's were doing harder dives than they are doing now. I wonder if Ron O'Brien's version of the Chinese Way is responsible for that? That might be a good question to ask him at the convention since he still advocates some skills for the age groupers. I do know this, that in the 1980's we didn't have all of the requirements we see today. We were also very successful on all levels. In case anyone hasn't noticed, our success has deteriorated since then. If we are looking to boost our numbers, why do we need his idea of skills? If the emphasis on skills is not increasing interest in the sport, why even have them? There are enough skills for these kids to learn without mastering the hardest ones first? Here is another thought. When did an age group diver represent the USA in the Olympics with Ron O'Brien? The answer is never. When will this diver represent the USA in the Olympics? The answer is may be never. Remember only 2 divers can do that per event.

With the disappearance of diving boards in swimming pools, I decided to do some research into the safety of our sport. I found us to be safer than US Diving's own Position Paper shows. I turned that study over to US Diving about a year ago. I felt it was proof that the certifications were unnecessary because we are statistically safe both competitively and recreationally. I also discovered that the purpose of those certifications was for those who aspired to coach internationally. Our NGB sat on and is still sitting on that information. They apparently are not interested that the largest segment of their membership may lose diving equipment. Why haven't they trumpeted this information when it was given to them? It is in their best interest, isn't it? Maybe not because they have their elite training facilities or are looking to build a new one. You only need one facility for the 4 to 8 divers at that level. Why should they worry about the rest of us?

Any one, who is not elite, is excess baggage. The rest of us are here to support the elite as long as is necessary. From the performances described above, we are not getting our money's worth and they are feeling very uncomfortable, if you look at it from that perspective. Last year the insurance costs were lowered but nobody even noticed. Your fees stayed the same. However, they are expected to rise in the future. Why? You should have gotten a discount and didn't. Why? Maybe it has to do with consolidating the power and money within the organization. When your numbers begin to decrease and your operating costs go up, fees have to be increased.

Many committees were in the process of trying to complete assigned tasks. All of a sudden the LRPC announcement came and all committee work was terminated. Even the funding for some of these committees was stopped to the dismay of some of the people on them. Officially the committees had completed their task, but did they? Maybe the board has decided to take control of everything without any input. Why?

Before the 1998 convention, there were questions about the Foundation financial affairs. Since that time, Ray Rude gave more money to US Diving. My question was "Why are these funds separate from the general funds?" When Ray gave that money, was it earmarked for something specific by him? If not, why wasn't it put in with the foundation or the general funds? Maybe it was decided that it would be used for something else. If so, who made that decision? We are talking a lot of money here and we have no idea of who is making these decisions. Who benefits from all of this? It certainly isn't the grass root or mid level coaches.

Recently it came to my attention that people were asked to vote on the concept of an idea. Doesn't that seem rather strange? How can anyone be expected to vote on something as vague as that? Voting has always been on something definite, a finished product. Maybe this is how the things that we get upset about come into effect. The concept of an idea is not the idea itself. The BOG may vote on the concept but may never get a chance to vote on the finalized version. Yet we are told that the idea was voted upon and successfully passed. Is this how the board operates? No wonder there is no over site committee. This is not an over site. It's plainly a deliberate means to justify their version of the right way to do things. Are we satisfied with this?

I once asked who is the God of diving? I wanted to meet the person who has all of the right answers in diving. If we look at who has been directing US Diving for the last 10 years or so, it might shed some light on the subject. I tried to do that and this is what I came up with. If you look at the names that have been on this board, a few of them always keep popping up. They are the same names in different positions. Why isn't there a rotation of other people on this board? I'm sure that others would be willing to do these jobs and may even be better at doing it. Why are these same people always on the board? Why not somewhere else? Something must be drawing them there. Could it be the power? Maybe it all falls back to the Foundation money? Are these the bees around the honey? Remember that's millions of dollars worth of honey. Could there be some improprieties going on that we are unaware of?

After the success of the 1980's, we began losing our edge. Then in the 1990's we began losing our sponsors too. I believe that this person is also the USOC connection that helped push the additional certifications through the 1998 convention with a ridiculous drowning story and the tears that went with it. This person appears to be groomed to take over Gompf's spot at the international level. Why him and not someone else? I now understand that he was appointed to head a committee of his choosing. Could he be a part of the secret LRPC? Is this correct parliamentary procedure? An appointee appoints others to make decisions so that your vote will be meaningless at the convention? The LRPC is setting an 8-year agenda. What it really means is a Long-Range Positioning Committee. That's right! What if Walker loses the next election? Who is going to take his place without disrupting this 8-year agenda? Walker has 2 years left. If the wrong people win the election, the agenda would survive the new president's term and then some. Do you like the idea that you're going to follow any agenda for 8 years? What if you don't like their agenda? You will be stuck with it for 8 years. Don't be shocked because things like this have happened before. In case no one remembers the 1998 convention, Todd Smith was in the middle of his contract with USD. For some strange reason it was extended for 5 more years. Why? No one's contract is extended until the current one expires. It seems that maybe if the other candidate won the election, Todd could have been out of a job. Who made that decision? What makes us think it won't happen again? They did it once and it looks to me like it's going to happen again.

What makes this board the experts they think they are to lead Diving anywhere? When was the last time they coached kids, especially at the lower levels and in particular, the beginner? How can they give us instructions on what must be taught there? Most of them shy away from those kids anyhow. Who made them the experts anyway? In case anyone hasn't noticed, we haven't been very successful internationally in recent years. That alone makes their expertise very questionable. The people who are directing us are the ones responsible for our lack of success internationally. What is most bothersome is that they refuse to admit that their ideas aren't working. It appears that a renewed effort has surfaced (LRPC). They are consolidating the power so that they can spend more time and money on their unsuccessful efforts. The attitude is that they will make it work no matter how many members they lose because they do have all of that money at their disposal. Remember they haven't had to report to the membership for anything. They do what they want to, not what we elected them to do. We (coaches) are US Diving not them.

One of our voting members has a small cloud overhead. It appears that the spouse's company is the direct recipient of US Diving's advertising and/or telecast money. This looks very much like a conflict of interest. Why is that person still allowed to cast a vote? How can this person have any direct involvement?

We are at the brink of losing diving at the Olympic level because we are considered a low value sport with no medal contender. That's why these people are very uncomfortable. They should be. They created this situation. What makes them think that a pep talk will have any effect now? Yes, this is how desperate they have become. Now they are working on the next Olympics. A diver could win the next trials and not represent the United States. These people want to set up a committee to see to that. Is this an attempt to manipulate our contests because they know what's best? Who will be on that committee, making those decisions? It reminds me of the divers that were asked to stay and dive past their prime. That tactic kept the younger divers from gaining the experience they will need for this Olympics. Who made that decision?

The above are just a few of the things we know about. Does this look like the path leading toward success? I don't think so. Is this how we want our National Governing Board to behave? Is this what we want? What an example we have to follow. Closed door backroom decisions, dishonesty and maybe a little larceny to top it off. Rumor has it that even the new USOC director doesn't think well of US Diving. I do know this, if you keep putting the same people in these positions, you will keep getting the same results or worse. If you don't like the results you are seeing, then it may be the right time to begin making the appropriate changes. Changing one person will not affect a change in the system. Walker was the last change that many were hoping would make a difference. He got elected and nothing has changed. If you want to see a change in the system, then you must replace more than just one person. A house cleaning may just be in order. What do we have to lose that we haven't lost already or are about to lose at the next convention?

Since the above was written, it came to my attention that one Instructor for USD's certification class was not Red Cross or Ellis certified. He was teaching skills that he was not currently certified to teach. Some coaches were amazed and concerned that this could happen. If it's the same name that's on US Diving's web site, he was the instructor at 3 or 4 different locations. How did that happen? Does this mean that all of those coaches have to be re-certified? From my perspective, it appears that the system is showing signs that it is beginning to fall apart.