trouble starting

Question
tom
  i'm 16, 5ft2, have 10 years of ballet experience and i currently swim. i would like to start diving but my mom says i'm too old and too tall. is  this true? if not do you know how i could convince her to let me dive? i live in feasterville, pa and i can't find a place that gives starter lessons for my age. i don't want to have to travel far to like a college until i've learned to do more in the sport because i have 5 siblings who have nightly activities and i they need to be places too. i attend a private school and there is no diving team and neshaminy does not offer an sal team. can you help me?
ariela

Answer
Ariela -

In answer to your questions:

1. 16 is not anywhere near too old to start diving. Many successful girls in this sport started diving when they were older than you. A person with a ballet background is attractive to diving coaches.

2. 5 foot 2 inches is considered short in diving and it is to your advantage to be that height. The taller you are the harder it is to learn to dive. I judged the US Olympic Team this past summer before they went to China and all the girls were taller that 5' 2" except for one girl who was 5' 0".All the girls on the Olympic team were required to take two days of ballet practices per week.

3. In order to convince your mom to let you dive I guess all you can do is tell her (in a nice way) that what she thinks about the age of new divers and their height is wrong.

4. The best places for you to learn to dive are found in Philadelphia at Drexel College and in New Jersey at College of New Jersey. They are about 20 miles away from where you live. I do not know of anything closer because I live in the Seattle WA area and am not familiar with your town. Go to www.bluedolphindiving.com and contact Candace Gottleib the head coach at the New Jersey College. She knows the coach at Drexel (Larry May) and can set up lessons for you at either school.

5. I am not familiar with the school named "Neshaminy" and do not know what "sal team" means.

Here are some websites to help you in your search:

www.usadiving.org - Click on Clubs and then click on Find A Club. Enter your state and also New Jersey and a list of teams will come up.

www.aaudiving.org - Click on Diving Sport Contacts and when the USA map appears, click on the district numbers closest to where you live. Contact the person whose name comes up and ask about teams/coaches closer to you than what I know exists in PA and NJ.

www.usadiver.com- Articles about diving.

www.diving.about.com - Site that explains the sport.

www.flipnrip.com - Site for divers/families.

Good luck in your search.