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Q
From Dick Wilson
Joe
I am concerned with the staggering of the dates of the Winter
Junior Regional Championships. The earliest is March 4-5 at
College Park, Md. and the latest is April 14 - 15 at Mesa,
Ariz. Is it not possible that a diver may feel free to enter
more than one of these events in order to gain qualification
to the Winter Junior Nationals. This, the Winter J.O. Championship,
is the only event on our calendar with this license, all of
the others are held on the same week ends throughout the year.
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A
Dear Mr. Wilson
You ask a good question. The reason for staggering the regional
meets, a decision made six years ago when the East West Nationals
got off the ground, was that during this period of time, it
would be difficult to get college pool time due to college
league championships and NCAA qualifying meets that occur
in this month. If we locked the meet to one weekend, we would
likely exclude the use of many pools. When this meet was first
conceived, it was not expected to be a major meet in the Junior
calendar. Now that the meet is very important to Junior divers
and their coaches, the issue you raise should be reconsidered.
However, it should be noted that a diver can only enter
one regional meet and he must then attend the corresponding
National meet (for example, a diver who competes in a
regional meet held in a western region may only attend the
West Nationals).
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Q
From Dr. Rick Schavone
Joe
I am writing to express my concern that the Winter Regional
meet is being held during our college championship meet. This
makes it very difficult for me to send a coach to the Regional
Meet and we are one of the top teams in our Region. How can
this happen?
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A
Dear Rick
Now that there is more emphasis on the East West Nationals
due to opportunities available to top finalists (qualification
for International Trip, Junior Zones, Nationals and Training
Camp) many top coaches, like you, are taking a more serious
look at the meet. Your regional director is free to set the
date within certain parameters. Because of the time of year,
it is difficult to schedule the regional meets to avoid conflicts
with everyone's schedule. Since many of our top age group
coaches also coach college, the conflicts are inevitable.
Here are some suggestions that may help. You can attend the
meet at any region, many of which are held on different dates.
For next year, try to talk to your regional meet director
early and apprise him or her of your college schedule. Or,
propose a rule change requiring that the meet be scheduled
such that it does not conflict with the NCAA Zones or Nationals.
I know these are not the best solutions, but we only have
so many weekends in this time frame to work with.
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