DIVE ON IN!
Diving is a type of sport you can have a lot of fun with and learn a lot about yourself. If your child enjoys jumping off the diving board, this would be a great sport for them.
You get to learn new tricks and improve the ones you already know. We have a great time in the summer with practices, meets, and play days.
Head Coach: Avery Balch
Team Representative: Susie Helton
Practices:
There are two practices each day, Monday through Friday. The first practice is from 7:45 AM-8:45 AM and the second practice is from 8:45 AM-9:45 AM. Whichever time slot works in your schedule the best is the one you can choose. Please arrive about 15 minutes prior to the practice start time to begin warmups. We start each practice with stretches and do some exercises to strengthen the core, legs, and arms.
Requirements:
Diving is open to any legal minor child of a Shades Cliff Pool member 18 and under as of June 1. We ask that your child is able to jump off the diving board and swim to the ladder on their own for them to be on the dive team. Once we get the season started, we will be offering opportunities to practice on the high board at the Hoover Rec. We will have meets where the children have the option to compete high board.
Fees:
There is a cost for participating on the dive team. The cost for dive team only is $124 for the first diver and $114 for each additional diver. Senior divers (15& up) are $99. If your athlete is swimming, dive can be added for $75. Cost includes a team tshirt, team backpack, and all county fees.
Click here to be taken to the Shades Cliff Swim and Dive Team Registration portal.
Meets:
Summer diving does have competitions where we meet with other dive teams around Birmingham. We will go to their pool and they will come to ours for our dive meets. Our diving population has gotten smaller in the Birmingham area. We only have four teams, counting us. We will dive against each team twice, except for one team. We will have about five dual meets (meet against one of the teams) and three large meets with every team combined.
One of the large meets is the Sports Festival. This meet is an extra cost and your child will compete with divers around the Alabama area. Both high board and low board are available to compete on. The next large meet is the Invitational meet. This meet is to get your child ready for the big County meet at the end of the season. They will still place and get awards for this meet. This meet is within all of the Birmingham teams. Both high board and low board are available. The last large dive meet, is the County dive meet. This meet is the last meet of the season. This meet is also within the Birmingham area. Both high board and low board are available. At the end of this meet, they will announce 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place of all of the teams. This meet is the championship meet. It’s one of the meets we highly recommend you attend. Each dual meet normally lasts around two hours. The bigger meets normally last all day depending on how many people attend.
We are always in need of help during the dive meets. We normally need someone helping announce the dives and scores, someone working the computer, and someone adding up the scores for the places. I know you want to be able to relax and watch your child, but when you work the table, you get front row seat! It’s very easy and you will get the hang of it right away! We are so appreciative over the help we receive!
After every meet, we like to reward the children of their hard work with a play day! We normally play games or just let the kids play in the well. This is a time where the coaches get to have fun with the children. We love to get in with them and play games with them. If they win the dive meet, I will reward them with donuts along with the play day! They always look forward to a yummy doughnut the day after a meet.
My hope for this year is for the children to have fun and enjoy the sport! The best part of being a coach is to see the excitement on the kids’ faces when they are having fun or when they accomplish something they had been working so hard on! When I get those reactions, I know I’m delivering what I need to, to make this sport what it’s supposed to be…fun and enjoyable!
