Gratitude Wall

These are texts, emails, etc. we have received over the years that make everything we do as coaches, worth it. Our team of coaches truly care about each and every one of our athletes as a person, before we care about them as divers. Diver achievements are a result we celebrate but never our primary pursuit.

Thank you to our AFD parents for trusting us with your children and giving us the opportunity to work with with them.

As a coaching staff, these messages mean more to us than we can put into words. This is our 'why'.

These messages have been altered to remove names, meets, locations, scores, places, awards, etc.

"Just a quick shoutout to you and the coaches. THANK YOU for all of the awesome coaching. After suffering from injuries before diving, you, the divers, and the sport have ushered new excitement and amazing opportunity. Thank you for your coaching and encouragement. The divers are awesome human beings."



"Congratulations to all the divers today!

You all looked great. I also want to give a huge thank you to all you older team members who were (and are always) so kind to our daughter. You go out of your way to encourage her and make her feel welcome. You are a special group of kids.

And thanks also to your parents for raising kids who treat their team members with such respect. We are thrilled she gets to learn diving with AFD and all of you!"



"Thank you for another incredible season. I don't think we could have expected she would go from 'diving 101' 2.5 years ago to finishing top 16 in the state. Your influence and impact has been incredible. We are so appreciative of the care you take in trying to put her in the best place to succeed in life and diving."



"Thank you so much for making the trek to the meet to cheer for her. It meant a lot to her (and us) that she was so well supported. She was very excited to have made it and advancing was super exciting.

She learns so much from each one of these experiences (good & bad). Yesterday was learning how she will need to manage two big competitions in one day! She has never had to do that before. We appreciate all the effort that went into this past week to afford her this opportunity! It’s like stepping onto a different diving planet and it is nice to know we are not alone."



"As expected, all I heard was positive feedback. They all said how much fun it was and they felt it really helped them bond as a team. She continued to talk about the trip over the past few days and showed me the pictures and videos.

Beyond thankful to all of you for thinking of this and providing them with the experience!! You are all much appreciated!"



"I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely thank you for everything you have done this season. Your support and encouragement this season has been amazing!

You and your coaches are phenomenal! I really just can't even find the words to express how happy we have been with the coaching. It's rare to find such a dedicated group of coaches that understand their athletes and the sport. They make the divers want to be better athletes. Please extend my gratitude and thanks to the other coaches."



"Thank you! She really enjoys the sport and loves the kids. All of you have embraced her. We are grateful. She also talked about how you were teaching them about leadership. THANK YOU!"



“Thank you so much for really taking her under your wing this season. What she learned amazes me! I can’t express how much she enjoyed you and all the kids. She really made such special bonds with each of them. I believe this was her first experience with what it is like to really be on a “team”. Sure, we have been on teams before, but really caring and cheering for others. I don’t really ever see her cry (she holds all her emotions in), but after practice on Friday she got to the car and just started bawling. I didn’t know what was wrong with her at first! She was just so sad the season was coming to an end. You have a wonderful group of kids and I know it starts with coaching and caring.”