March 5th, 2011 Newsletter

Hard as it is to believe, we are half-way through this session of diving. As many of you know in January we started a competitive wing of the club. Some of us had an opportunity to head up to Calgary to take in some of the Alberta Winter Provincials competition and it was a real eye opener for those of us who did. It was a national qualification event as well, so some of the best divers in Canada were there to compete. It was a real inspiration for those divers who attended to see just what a competition looks like and what divers in each of their age groups are doing. We also have a lot of different things coming up that we need to let you know about!

Bring a Friend Night

One of the best forms of advertising for our club has always been our "bring a friend" nights. We run these nights to coincide with our 6-week session registration (which is this upcoming week). We would like to encourage all of our divers to talk to their friends and bring a friend this week who is interested in learning more about diving. The more divers that we can get interested in the sport and involved with our club the better!

Name The Club Contest!

We are looking for a new nickname for the club and would like the divers and families to help us out. We will be running a draw the week of March 7th - 10th and the winning entry will receive a FREE t-shirt with the new club nickname on it. You can pick up entry forms from the coaches on deck when you drop off or pick up your divers or you can email your entries to Michelle Nelson. All entries MUST be received by March 10th in order to be considered.

New Dive Clothing

We are currently looking at ordering new club gear for anyone who is interested. We are currently looking at a variety of items:

• track jackets & pants
• t-shirts
• hoodies
• possibly bags

We will be sending out information this week with more details and we will have samples for people to check out and sizes for people to try on as well. We are actively looking for sponsors to help offset the cost of the clothing, so if you know someone who may be interested in helping sponsor our club, please talk to someone on the board about it.

Dive Camps

We would like to run some dive camps again this session for any and all divers who are interested. The camps will be an opportunity for the divers and coaches to spend some more time on team building activities, have some fun and work on skills that tend to take more time that they normally have. Attendance is not mandatory and divers are invited to come one or both weekends as their schedule and interest allows. In order to cover the additional pool time and coaching costs, we are charging $25.00 per day ($15.00 for a half day). The tentative dates for these camps (pending pool bookings) are:

• March 19th (Saturday) 9:00-4:00
• March 26th (Saturday 9:00-4:00

Divers will be in the water for 1.5 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon with an hour break for lunch. Younger divers are encouraged to attend on a modified schedule that works for them (possibly just the morning or just the afternoon). If you have questions about these, please speak to the coaches or a board member.

Competitive Updates

For those families who have divers in the competitive stream (and others who are interested), we have 2 upcoming competitions that our divers are preparing for:

• Saskatoon - April 29th - May 1st
• Edmonton - May 20th - 22nd

As we get closer to these competitions and have a better idea of who will be ready to compete we will look at trying to block book some rooms.

We are also looking at taking the pre-competitive and competitive divers up to the Talisman Centre in Calgary for some training. Their club has a bubbler (which allows divers to attempt harder dives from the 3m and 5m boards with less chance of "smacking"). We are tentatively looking at the weekend of April 9th for the first of these trips (more information to follow).

Bingo Update

Many of you have probably noticed the increased frequency of bingos that we have this session (sorry, scheduling these is completely out of our control). Regardless, in order to continue to support the costs of running the club we all have to work them. The job of the bingo coordinator is a thankless one, but we can all help make it easier by being pro-active in handling our bingo requirements. If you have not done so already, you can check the bingo schedule on the website (and even sign up for the bingos you would like to work). At the very least, if you can get a hold of Dawn and let her know what dates you can work, it is helpful. If you can't work, there is the option of paying students to work your bingos for you, but again we need to know (and have the money) ahead of time so that we can get students in place and ensure that they are paid when they work.

Coaching Update

Many of you may not be aware, but Brooklyn and Kelsey have made the transition from assistant coaches to coaches this session. On behalf of the board I would like to congratulate all of our coaches on the phenomenal job that they have been doing - keep it up!

The coaches would also like to encourage all of the parents to come down and talk to them when they are dropping off or picking up their divers. It is an excellent opportunity to just say hi and see how things are going or let them know if there are things they should be aware of (all of our children have their days!).

See you at the pool!