Update -- December 9, 2007

Dear Divers, Parents, and Supporters,  

Whew, what a week with the storms.  Hopefully the weather will be a little more cooperative this week, especially as we come up to the HDA Championships :)

We will devote this week to water workouts in preparation for the meet, then start doing a lot more "dryland" type activities during the worst of the cold months...I have, however, gotten word that another team is planning to host a meet in January...we'll have to see what's going on before we commit to that, especially if we are doing all dry-land training.  But since several of you are missing the HDA Championships due to other commitments, some of you may want to participate in another meet then.  Let's discuss :)

Since the last update letter,  USA Diving has finally announced the start of the new  "Competitive Blue" and "Competitive Gold" membership categories.  They go into effect on Wednesday, December 12.  Here's a link to let you read more about them:  usadiving.org news.  The great news is that, if you register as a Competitive Blue or Competitive Gold athlete for 2008 BEFORE the 15th (including faxing in the required waiver), you can compete in the HDA Championships as a Junior diver (thereby doing more dives and becoming eligible to be an athlete representative for our club).  And the Competitive Blue price is only $20 for the whole year!  So please get on this right away! New members to the club who have not yet done so aslo need to register to be covered by insurance, so please review the instructions on "How to Join USA Diving" and get to this right away!

HDA Championships

We will finish filling out sheets and entry forms on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at workout, and I will hand-deliver them to the UH Sunshine team, so do not stress if you have not yet filled out forms and sent them in :)

Please be at the UH Pool at 8:30 Am for warm-ups.  First event starts at 10:00 AM, and I am confident that the entire meet will be finished prior to 3 PM.

The UH Sunshine Club is asking its families to bring snacks to share for all, and I ask Tropic Lightning families to do the same and promote a nice sense of community :)

Meet Director Anita Rossing has also asked for volunteers from Tropic Lightning to help out on the table.  I thank you all in advance for helping out in this way (and divers, you yourselves can help out during the breaks you have in your events :)

Coach Jeff will be diving (no surprise, I have done so at all the meets that we haven't hosted :) and we will have a special appearance by Tropic Lightning alum Aleia Monden, who will be back on break from FSU and training with us for about 10 days!

More Welcomes:

Please welcome Charles and Chase, brothers who decided to brave the cold weather and waters and join the 3:30 diving class this month.  They have been working hard and have learned forward and back approaches with jumps, and are so fearless that they already dive off the 3M!  I'm sure they will be great additions to the workout group :)

High School Diving: 

Have not yet heard back from the Pac-5 coach about the private school/home school issue.  However, I leave it now in the hands of the families of those divers to follow up and get things in motion if you'd like to try to compete for the High Schools.  I know the public schools must have a roster of athletes presented to the OIA by January 10, and I imagine the private schools have something similar...so keep that in mind! 

The OIA has at least three schools and severn divers this year, and will have separate events from the ILH.  Depending on the sites of the OIA meets, I am going to have "open practice/mock meets" held either just before or just after the OIA meets, so there still will be weekly proto-competitive opportunities for those who are not able to be involved with interscholastic competition (i.e., public school middle schoolers, home-schoolers who do not get something worked out).  The snag in this will happen if our OIA meets happen at Central Oahu Regional Park, as I have no workout times or authority there.  Will keep you posted about this as well.

ILH Pre-Season Meet Results -- Ashley, Khoral, and Cristin all participated in the December 8 event at Punahou School.   After a weird afternoon of juggling start time of the meet a few times, the girls all dived solidly.   Khoral finished second in a field of four in the Intermediate event, nailing her 200A for 6-6.5s and her 401C for 5.5-6s.  Ashley finished fourth in a field of seven in the JV event, hitting her 402C for 6s and her 403C for 5.5s.  She also dived exhibition in the Varsity event and earned a state qualifying mark right out of the gate!  Cristin finished 5th in the JV event, hitting her 201B for 5.5-6s and her 103B for 5.5s.  See the High School Diving page fore more details.

REMAINDER OF DECEMBER WORKOUT SCHEDULE

Mon, Dec. 10, 3:00 - 5:00 PM at Kaiser High School  

Tues, Dec. 11, 3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield

Wed, Dec. 12, 2:15-5 PM at HCDB (Trampoline)  

Thurs, Dec. 13, 3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield

Fri, Dec. 14, 3:00 - 5:00 PM at Kaiser High School

Sat, Dec. 15 8:30 AM - 3 PM-ish HDA Championships at UH Manoa 

Mon, Dec. 17, 3:00 - 5:00 PM at Kaiser High School  

Tues, Dec. 18, 3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield

Wed, Dec. 19, 2:15-5 PM at HCDB (Trampoline)  

Thurs, Dec. 20, 3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield

Fri, Dec. 21, 10:00 AM - Noon at Kaiser High School

Sat, Dec. 22, 10:00 AM - Noon at Kaiser High School 

Sat. Dec 22,  3:30 - 6:00 PM at Schofield

Break from Sunday, Dec., 23 - Sunday, Dec., 30 (Coach Jeff visiting family on the mainland)

Mon, Dec. 31, 10:00 AM - Noon at Kaiser High School 

ASL CORNER

As always, this reference is here so you all can learn to communicate with our deaf diver/s: check out the ASL Corner,  do the lessons as you want to, ask me for help as you need.

Okies, That's all for now! 

Jeff