diving in charlotte NC

Question
My daughter is a 12 year old level 8 gymnast who is interested in switching to diving.  She currently trains 22 hours a week with gymnastics.  Is there a facility in Charlotte NC?  Is there a summer camp you would recommend?  thank you!

Answer
Jessica -

I could only find one club team in the City of Charlotte. It is the Sardis Dive Team that operate out of the Sardis Swim & Racquet Club on Thermal Rd. I do not know much about them or what type of facility they have. I'll leave you their contact info at the end of my answer.

If you are willing to drive to Huntersville, there is an excellent program there with experienced coaches and a great facility that hosts major national level meets. The name of the team is the Carolina Dive Academy and they use the Huntersville Family Fitness and Aquatic Center.

As far as summer camps go, you'll have to wait until next summer for your daughter to go to one. This is because August is national championship month in diving with all the coaches who conduct these camps are busy attending. Diving camps are mainly held on college campuses and there are many good ones in your part of the country such as Duke University and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. If she takes to diving and stays with it, contact me next spring for information on camps.

Here are the websites to go to find the contact info for the above teams:

For the Sardis Dive Team go to www.divemeets.com. Click on 'Find' and then 'Teams'. A huge list of teams from all over the world will come up. Look under AAU Diving and in the third column scroll down looking for NC. Then look to the first column for the team name and click on it. You will find the contact info there. You can also look for 'Pools' under 'Find' and you will see contact info for pools in NC.

For the Carolina Dive Academy go to www.usadiving.org. Click on 'Join USA Diving' and then 'Find A Club'. Enter NC and a list of teams will come up. There is a link to their website there. Also look into joining fees as she may have to belong to this national governing body to start diving. It is inexpensive to be an athlete member

I would suggest visiting both programs and watch a practice session of kids in their Learn To Dive Program and then make a decision as to which is best for her. They may even offer a free trial lesson.

Here are some other websites to go to:

www.aaudiving.org - You may have to join this organization to start lessons. Also low cost to be a member.

www.diving.about.com - Site that explains the sport. Enter 'Lessons' or 'Learn To Dive' in the search box. Have her read these types of articles so she knows what to expect.

Most of age group diving is comprised of girls age 8 to 18 and just about all of them are current or former gymnasts so she'll fit right in.

Good luck and have fun!