Hope all of you are doing well. I am sure that you are relieved that your children are back in school. Few items below:

# 1 - Pool.

They are working and working but we won’t get an exact date for about a week when the pool will be ready. We are still shooting for a September 15th start date. If that is the case, the beginners will begin on the 16th. Warning - the pool WILL BE COLD the first week or so until the temperature rises.

# 2 - End of the Year Banquet.

We will have our awards banquet on the 7th of September at 1:00 p.m. which is a Sunday. It will be at Woodvalley pool in Raleigh off of I-540. I can get you directions if you need them. The kids can swim for about an hour, and then we will eat and give our awards. If you are a new family to THD, please come and introduce yourself. We are a very friendly bunch and it will be nice to meet and see new faces. Our banquets/BBQ’s/Get togethers are very low key and welcoming to everyone. Come one come all. I will send out an email on who should bring what. Becky B, please try to make it as well.

# 3 - Fall Schedule and Fees:

The schedule is that same as last year, and is posted on THD.

JO/High School Divers Monday/Wednesday from 5:00 to 7:00. Tuesday/Thursday 5:30 to 7:30.

Beginners - Tuesday/Thursday 5:00 to 6:30.

Friday all groups from 5:00 to 6:45ish.

Fees: All JO/HS divers $150.00 a month. Beginners will pay $110.00 a month regardless if you dive 2/3 days a week. It’s too hard for me to keep track of who does what. If you only dive one day a week, see me.

# 4 - Registration per family

$150.00 for JO/HS
$100.00 for beginner

If you know you are going to register and you are new to THD, you can get on our website, and fill out the registration form and mail it to me before the 15th of September to get you in the system. If you have a child and is trying THD out, you can wait to register later.

# 5 - Dryland training.

Regardless of when the pool is up, we will start dryland training on Monday September 8th. The time is TBD. I am waiting from DUKE to see when the college divers can dive here. The dryland training will be for beginners or JO/HS divers. It’s a good way to get some conditioning in, get the season going and focus on basic fundamentals.

If your child participates in dryland training before the pool is filled with water, the cost for the month of September will be $120.00 for the month for JO/HS, and $80.00 a month for beginners due to the fact that we cannot get into the pool. We will continue to do dryland until the pool is ready.

Fees for divers who do not do dryland will be pro-rated based on when we can get in.

Thanks and see you on the 7th of September for the banquet.

Best for now and welcome new THD members!

Kevin

Who: All and any age group diving parents, fans, or coaches - NO DIVERS! (Sorry Glyn and Anna, looks as if you will have to disappear for a few hours.) New parents that are interested in joining this fall too! 

What: Social gathering of the Tar Heel Diving ParentsWhen: Sunday August 24th from 4:00 to about 6:00

Where: The Tompkins Home. Directions will be forthcoming.

Why: Why not? To be in a social NON DIVING environment, to be with friends, to catch up, and enjoy a few drinks  How: Spaceship, car, bike, horse. Whatever suits your fancy.

Hope you are having a good rest of the summer.  Each day gets a bit busier and busier.  Here are some updates about the pool, training, and schedule:

The Pool:  They are working extremely hard to get all of the tasks done as soon as possible.  The major projects that were taken on this week was REGROUTING the entire deck!  This has never been done.  This was a massive undertaking.  Also, replacing all of the caulking at the bottom of the pool between the joints.  It’s going to be great once it is finished.

Meets:  Ryland decided last minute to head up to DC to compete in the Age Group National Championships.  Yesterday he finished 3rd.  Great Job Ryland.  He will compete 3 meter tomorrow.

Parking.  They are putting a raised gate to get into the back lot of Koury.  I believe by 5:00 it should be up, but I am checking on this for you. 

Training:  I know that everyone is itching to get back into the pool, as am I.  But, b/c we are not sure when that will be, I thought we could start some conditioning, stretching, drills, etc to get back into shape.  I need to find out when the deck will be cleaned up.  As soon as it is, we will start some dryland.

Parents Get-Together:  The Tompkins are willing to host a parent get together sometime soon for us to socialize and NOT TALK ABOUT DIVING!  Possibly next weekend August 23/24th.  Maybe on a Sunday afternoon?!?  Check your emails over the next couple of days and as soon as it gets hammered out, I will let you know.

 That’s it for now.  Take care and enjoy the Olympics.  Hopefully we can bring home a medal!!!

Thursday, JULY 3rd 5pm NOVICE / JO @ NCAC vs FARM & Raleigh

Wednesday, JULY 9th 5pm NOVICE / JO @ FARM vs NCAC (HH, CCR)

Thursday, JULY 19th 5pm NOVICE / JO @ NCAC vs Farm (HH, CCR)

Saturday, July 19th 10am NOVICE/ JO @ Heritage Hills vs FARM & NCAC (tentative

Saturday August 2nd 10am SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIP MEET @ FARM!

I hope that the Tarheel Divers will put these meets on their summer schedule as well!

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks so much.

Becky Binney
Chapel Hill Summer Dive League

We will have practice on Memorial Day from 10:00 to noon.  Jon will run it as I will be at the meet at Duke.  No Saturday practice this weekend - also b/c of the Duke meet.

Thanks…

Kevin

The Region meeting on Tuesday went well.  We will have our next meeting the week of May 5th through the 9th, and assign specific duties.  Chris Hamilton has volunteered to do the goodie bags.  Also, Charlene Stocking volunteered to organize the meals for coach’s hospitality.

The main focus was sponsorship.  I am asking that all parents contact 4 vendors.  I have attached a letter to the tar heel group site.  If you do not get our emails, or cannot download the attachment, let me know and I will send it to your email address.  The letter is to be given to a vendor.  Good vendors are restaurants (Chick-Fil-A, Wendys, SubWay etc.), Grocery Stores, Local Businesses, etc.   You can ask for products that we would use for concessions or coach’s hospitality (soda, chips, bread, veggies, water), or a financial donation. 

Also, I am asking that all families chip in and purchase a case of water and a case of soda for the meet.  You don’t need to get that until the week of.  But if you see it on sale now, get it.  Just bring the soda to my office when you come to practice.

Charlene Stocking volunteered to be in charge of signing family members up for a dinner to be in charge of.  Instead of one person in charge of arranging all of the meals for the coach’s hospitality, we are asking that people who have close friends or relatives of restaurants, ask them for donations or to help out with food. 

Any money that you spend for this meet, will come out of our meets fees that we collect.  I do not expect ANYONE to pay for any part of this meet out of their pocket.

Thanks for getting the ball rolling.  Please check the THD website on a daily basis, and check your email too.  Those two mediums will be the easiest way for us to communicate.

 Kevin

Sprinters for example are fast twitch athletes.   They have quick twitch muscle fibers and can react and move their bodies quicker than the average person.  That is something that cannot be taught or learned.  It is just the way they are.  Divers that spin and twist fast are blessed with fast twitch fibers.  Slow twitch athletes are your distance runners, milers in swimming, and bicyclists.  They do not require quick movements.  Only steady-driven actions.  Most divers are somewhere inbetween the range of fast and slow twitch.

Can you be a slow twitch athlete, and still be a good diver?  To a degree yes.  But it’s like asking someone who is 5′11″ if they would be a good center in basketball.  One way to overcome slower movements is to lift weights and become stronger.  Being strong helps.  For example, Ryan Funderburk is medium/slow twitch. But he is powerful and strong, so that makes up for his lack of speed.  He does not somersault like a bandit, but he can jump to the moon.

The main thing that divers can do to combat this, is to increase their flexibility.  If your muscles are more limber, they will move faster.  Stretching will not make the fibers in your muscles move quicker, but you will increase the range of motion your muscles can move, and they will get to the proper position sooner. 

The two main reasons we stretch is # 1 to prevent injury, and # 2 to increase flexibility.  The more flexible you are, the better of a diver you will become.  EVERYONE watches TOO MUCH TV.  Next time you are sitting on your can, get up and stretch while you are watching.

Two weeks of intense stretching can really make a huge difference in your diving…..

Happy Reading!!!