Rocky Mountain Diving Club has a number of policies concerning safety, lesson participation and code of conduct that all participants must adhere to in order to ensure the successfull management of the program and safety of all participants involved.

CLUB POLICIES

• Classes need a minimum of 4 participants to run. Less than 4 participants may result in cancellation of that class for the session.
• New participants will receive a MNP Community and Sport Centre pass card to gain access through the back gate (group check-in gate) to the lower pool deck area at the first lesson. Passes must be returned to the coach on the last day of the session.
• Access to the pool deck is through the change rooms located at the bottom of the stairs below the Main Service Centre.
• Participants do not need to shower first as they will be completing dry land training and conditioning before entering the pool.
• Participants should arrive at least five minutes before class wearing running shoes, t-shirt and shorts, bathing suit and with a towel and water bottle.
• Parents may accompany their child down to the pool deck on their first lesson day only for the start of class, after which we ask that you move to the observation area located above the dive tank. As exciting as being on deck is to watch all the action, space is limited and is restricted to participants and their soggy dive gear.

Cancellation/Refund Policy

Withdrawal before the program starts:

If a diver decides to withdraw from the program prior to the beginning of the class, the diver will be refunded the full amount less an administration fee of $10.

Withdrawal after one or two sessions of the program:

If a diver decides to withdraw after joining 1 or 2 classes of the program, the diver will be charged $25 for each session he/she has attended and an administration fee of $10, and RMDC will refund the rest of the registration fee.

Withdrawal in the middle of the session because of family emergency or injury:

RMDC will provide a refund to the diver if he/she has to withdraw in the middle of the session due to a family emergency or injury that impacts their ability to attend classes. The refund will be based on the number of classes remaining in the session and will include a $10 administration fee; up to a maximum of 50% of the registration fee.

Other issues

• If diver misses classes due to other commitments, RMDC can not offer a makeup class.
• If RMDC has to cancel a class, RMDC will offer a makeup class or provide a refund if makeup class cannot be made.
• If there’s an emergency closure of the dive tank - RMDC will still offer the class by only using the dryland or moving to an alternate location, RMDC will not offer any makeup classes or refund if divers choose not to attend the dryland only training.

ATHLETE CODE-OF-CONDUCT

• All members will respect the coaches. This includes giving them their full attention when they are speaking and providing instruction without back talk or arguments.
• All members will arrive on time at practices & competitions early enough for designated stretch and warm up.
• All members will treat each other with respect and display good sportsmanship. Foul language or name-calling is not permitted. Disrespectful, indiscreet or destructive behavior will not be tolerated. Any form of sexual harassment WILL NOT BE permitted
• Pushing, hitting, kicking, taunting, bullying, and other intentional unwanted touching or interfering is not permitted. Athletes and parents may be required to sign a separate Anti Bullying document at the start of every season.
• Running or other horseplay activity is not allowed.
• Athletes must notify coach on deck if parent has not arrived to pick them up within 15 minutes of the end of a scheduled class
• Rocky Mountain Diving Club is a drug free organization; using alcohol, non-prescription illegal drugs or tobacco is not permitted.
• NO Cell Phones during practice time, including dryland. Cell phone use is for emergency only.

PARENT CODE-OF-CONDUCT

• Make sure the diver is at lessons on time and ready to dive with proper footwear, shorts, t-shirt, bathing suit, towel and water bottle.
• Encourage your child without pressuring them. Always show interest and enthusiasm. Diving through the fear is a major part of this sport’s psychological demand, so be patient if your child hesitates to try a new “scary” dive.
• Please do not coach your child. During lessons, allow the coaches to do their job. Some coaches find that divers perform better and more effectively when parents are not present or are seated upstairs in the observation area above the pool.
• If your child misbehaves, a coach has some responsibility to discipline them, but the ultimate responsibility for discipline remains with you.
• Do not criticize coaches or other divers in front of your child.
• Let your child know that you will be there for them, even if a lesson does not go as well as hoped or anticipated.

DIVING SAFETY

Many parents express concerns about the safety of diving. However, for an athlete who is properly trained by a safety certified coach, diving is an extremely safe sport. Dr. Jamie Kissick, Chairman of Sport Safety for the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine, suggests that it is important to differentiate organized sport from recreation activities when reviewing injury statistics.

“Diving Safety, A Position Paper” published by United States Diving reports on a study conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (2002) which found that there were fewer accidents related to diving and diving boards than to golf, or bowling. A second study conducted by the National Spinal Cord Injury Data Research Center (2001) found that half of all diving injuries occurred in rivers, lakes and oceans and that most diving injuries “result from horseplay and injudicious behavior.”

Scott Stevenson, Executive Director of the Canadian Amateur Diving Association (CADA), suggests “the best place for a person to learn to dive safely is in a nationally sanctioned program, working with professional coaches in appropriate diving facilities. Jumping into unknown waters, in unsupervised environments is not ‘the sport of diving,’ and related spinal cord injury research should clearly make this distinction.” Bottom line? Take quality diving instruction.