On September 21st, Mohamed and Nate, two of our younger Tier 1 divers, were invited to attend the opening dinner for the Kitchener Sports Association (KSA). Last year the KSA provided a travel grant of $1500 to our junior and senior athletes that assisted them in attending their national meets. For both boys, the opportunity to go to Junior Nationals in July required many hours of effort but resulted in some outstanding personal scores and final placements.
It wasn’t only food that drew Mohamed and Nate to the KSA dinner. They also had the opportunity to talk about their experiences getting to and finally participating at Nationals. For Mohamed, the journey to attain the required qualifying scores was a hard-fought battle, but the end result was the opportunity to represent KWDC at his first Junior Nationals in the Boys C division. Mohamed ended his speech by noting that he would never have achieved his goals if he hadn’t persevered and worked hard to make them happen. “One thing to remember is that if you can dream it, you can achieve it!”
For Nate, in Boys D division, the qualifying scores came easily but the bigger goal was to make the top 12 on 1m, 3m, and tower as this qualified him for his first international competition in Quebec. Not only did Nate meet this goal, he came in second overall in his age group. For Nate, the best thing about diving is “the feeling of flying off the board”, an attribute that can only help him conquer the more difficult dives to come!
Nate and Mohamed were both excellent ambassadors for our diving club at the KSA dinner, showcasing both the talent in this club and our appreciation for the community’s support through the KSA grant. The KW Diving Club extends a warm thank you to the grant selection committee for this year’s travel grant. A special thank you goes out to Janice for not only submitting the grant application but also accompanying the divers to the KSA dinner.
