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Where Are They Now?
This is another attempt to convince the powers in US Diving that the grass roots coaches are leaving the organization because they are being ignored and their needs are not being met.
After the 1998 convention Illinois had around 500 registered divers and between 20 to 30 coaches. Two years later, Illinois now boasts a little over 200 registered divers and 7 or 8 coaches. The same decrease has occurred with the number of affiliated clubs. What Happened?
All of the requirements to become a US Diving Coach have turned coaches away. Let's see if I can explain this phenomenon. If you don't agree with the requirements, the fees and the direction that US Diving appears to be heading, why should you join? The fees for the diver membership were high to start with and it has been announced that they will increase in the future. That's understandable when in only one state, US Diving loses over 300 members. I can only wonder what that figure is Nationally?
As a long time high school diving coach, I have been running a program for pre-high school kids. The reason for that is very simple. It is a feeder program for the high schools. I want these kids to have some diving experience before they become high schools age. The more dives they can do before they get to high school, the better their chances are for success at that level. While in high school, we look to the college level and the requirements they must have to compete at that level and prepare for that day. Maybe if they become good enough, they can get some financial help with their education. The summers are used as an extension of this progression. Now grass root coaches use the summers to get the girls ready for the fall when their season begins. Notice the progression here, age group to high school to college. Most divers fall into this progression. Many grass roots coaches are not buying US Diving's idea of novice, intermediate, age group to elite because they see it having little benefit to their programs. Neither are they buying the Dive Safe Gold program. Hands on could turn to handcuffs. Touching kids today is not the thing to do in our lawsuit crazed society yet US Diving still pushes that program.
US Diving wants kids to master certain skills not dives through the age groups which does not give them the actual dive experience until they reach an older age or become an elite diver. If divers only follow US Diving skills progressions, they will not have the actual dive experience they need to be a successful high school diver.
In Illinois we have an Association meet for competition which has decreased in size for the last 2 years. The cost for divers is high especially in families that have more than one child diving. In response, the grass roots people have set up their own meets at the local level and develop divers with the sole purpose of preparing them for their high school or college programs. This is the right thing to do when your National Governing Board appears to ignore the needs of your program. It still appears that the US Diving program is in place for only the top 25 divers in the country. What is offered to the rest of us? Not much!
The conflict here is that many of the US Diving Board of directors haven't coached for years and only have a philosophical idea of what a grass root program should be but not what its purpose is. Most are only involved with the elite level. When they vote, it is reflective of their position and background. Their consideration is the elite of US Diving. Most grass roots coaches never get to the elite status or even care to coach at that level. Many have seen that there is no place for them in US Diving and have decided not to join. They have acted and US Diving has responded by trying to ignore them. Those that did make the break from US Diving have not looked back with any regret. They are meeting their own needs and seem to be happy. US Diving has only seen the tip of the iceberg with membership loss and it will only change when and if they ease the requirements. It is unfortunate that the course US Diving is on will cause its grass roots to disappear altogether.
In a new addition to their web site, they are lauding the smallness of the sport by emphasizing the percentage of medals won in comparison to the other sports. On that site US Diving claims to have 25,000 divers. That doesn't coincide with the numbers stated at the 98 convention, which was 10,000. The number has decreased since then as stated in a recent assertion by the Education and Safety Committee in that the results of implementing the Dive Safe Gold Link program would increase and eventually equal the 1998 numbers. Where did the extra 15,000 divers come from? For what purpose would the organization need to pad those figures that much?