QuestionWe moved to FL 1 1/2 years ago and my 13 year old daughter who was a high level competitive gymnast decided to try diving. She has been in a diving program in Brandon now for over a year, loves it, and is doing very well. We just learned the coach is leaving and the facility is eliminating the dry-land training area. We would like to keep her in a program but are being told there aren't any others in our area. Do you have any information on possible options?
AnswerHi Lisa -
The part of Tampa where the program in Brandon is located is probably the only one on that side of the bay but there are other programs on the other side west of you in the Largo and St Pete area.
The team in Largo is called West Florida Lightning Aquatics and is coached by Tony Perriello. They have a large diving facility and am sure they have some type of dry land equipment. His e-mail is
[email protected].
The other program is the St. Pete Diving Club coached by Bill Walker. Bill is a past President of USA Diving and an internationally certified diving official. He also authored a book on how to design and install a dry land diving facility. His e-mail is
[email protected]. I do not know what pool they practice at but am sure he has dry land equipment.
I found their contact info by going to www.usadiving.org, click on Clubs and then Find A Club. Enter FL and a list of teams will come up. You can also go to www.divemeets.com and at the top of the home page, click on Lists of Divers, Teams and Coaches. Click on Teams and a huge list will come up. Under AAU, scroll down to teams under FL and then click on the team name for contact info. You can also scroll down farther to NCAA teams to find colleges that may be near you with club teams and then at the end of the list is USA Diving Clubs and do the same search.
I suggest taking a trip over to Largo and St. Pete and visit with the coaches and find out what they have to offer.I am sure you will find something you like although it may mean driving farther for practices.
