After listening to and reflecting on the information various people have conveyed to me about the convention, I am more confused about US Diving, it's membership and what some people are trying to do. I have spent almost 3 years trying to convince the organization and its members that the direction they are headed is not in the best interest of Diving, divers and/or the coaches.

This all goes back to my 3 original concerns which still are:

1. Membership fees are too expensive for both the coaches and divers.
2. Mandated certifications are statistically unnecessary and unwarranted.
3. The age group requirements are too restrictive and difficult for the divers with the least amount of experience.

None of the above issues were even addressed at this convention. The main focus was the LRP. Both sides won a battle of sorts. The LRP is still in place but has been watered down a bit and a few new faces were added in the organization.

What I see on both sides of the issue is a struggle between the professional coaches and the organization. In that struggle both sides are caught up in their own self-interests. It does appear that those coaches who are paid by colleges were a little more indifferent to some of the issues than those who solely derive their income from diving. Their interest is their livelihood and attempting to gain some control at the administrative end to serve their interests. The organization has its various egos to satisfy which was focused on medal winning. Lost in all of this was the non-professional, part time, USD, junior coaches as well as the Junior divers and below. It may be time to reflect and ask ourselves, "Are we doing all of these things in the best interest of divers and diving?" Whatever is being done now is for a small segment of the diving community and not the entire community (i.e. references to the top 20 clubs that produce divers and the training sites). If the whole is the sum of its parts then why are some parts either left out completely or included for the sake of expediency? I believe that this is where the Junior program happens to be. It is being pushed around for the sake of convenience and nothing more.

The focus at the National and International levels for both Junior and Senior divers bypasses the needs of the ones who never make it that far. No attention is paid to those coaches or divers. Their needs are not the same as the upper levels. The divers and dives they do are not the same either. Neither is the equipment they use (i.e.: tramps, belts, dry board and spargers). The requirements therefore should not be the same. This is what was referred to as expediency in the paragraph above.

US Diving stated that it wants to increase membership both in coaches and divers. It also says it doesn't want to unduly burden the coaches with the requirements. "You can't have your cake and eat it too!" The proposed 10 step coaching ladder is not only a burden but also it unnecessary. US Diving wants more people involved however their focus is either at the grass root entry level or the National and International levels. What happened to the middle membership? The use of assistant coaches seems to aid only the larger clubs mentioned earlier because they can afford to have another coach. What happened to the experienced coaches who have since dropped out of the organization? Why has there been no attempt to lure these people back? These are coaches that would be of value to US Diving. They have a lot of experience and have a great deal to offer beginning coaches in their states. They also have divers who are not affiliated with US Diving.

I have listened to some high level people in US Diving and their observations of what transpired at the Olympic Games. I may only be a lowly age group coach but I'm not blind or stupid. My opinion differs greatly from theirs. What I saw showed that in the women's events, we were definitely out classed even though we won the Gold. In the guy's events, we were boys competing against men. This should tell us something about the system that has been in place for the last ten years. To me, it says it isn't working. The LRP was developed to win medals and appears to be an extension of the system that is already in place. Does any version of the LRP make anything better? It does make everything more complex. Do we need a Plan? Definitely, but not this one. If the basic idea hasn't worked for ten years, what makes us certain that any add on (LRP) will make it better. If you start with a faulty premise, you end up with a faulty answer no matter how you look at it or what you add to it.

I see this as a power struggle with people reacting not only to their own self-interests but reacting from their position on the coaching ladder. What may be good at the National and International Levels has no bearing on the grass roots entry level or the Junior program. If we are going to do some soul searching, then one must look at the total program. If we are looking at the LRP, it is a project that looks into the future. When dealing with the future, top down viewing will not bring the results that are sought. Bottom up is the way to look into the future of the sport. What is happening in the Junior program will be what the future brings. If the Junior program is sparse with talent, then when they become Seniors, they will be sparse also.

There definitely is something wrong when the athletes are given a one-sided view of issues and then enough voting power to affect the outcome of those issues when a vote is taken. The voting power doesn't bother me as much as being given a one-sided view does.

A depressing comment was that the kind of change I have been advocating could take 4 to 8 more years. In the mean time, things will go on as usual and the largest segment of diving will have to put up with the whole mess or be forced to make a decision whether it is worth staying or not. I can't believe that some people are so afraid to lose what little has been gained at convention that they have stopped trying to affect change. I lost a lot in my last few years as a member of US Diving. Aside from the costs, I lost the freedom of choice while being a member. That freedom of choice was taken away from my Junior divers too with the limited list of dives they were allowed to choose from. I have regained that freedom by not renewing my membership, which allows me to explore other possibilities that will meet my needs and the needs of my program. It is truly unfortunate that the National Governing body could not and would not meet my needs or others like me.

On line since 11/10/2000
Back To Current Topics