Where are the DIVE SPORTS and COMPETITIONS?

[bfw]

That is true. But asphalt and concrete barriers are not so kind either yet auto racing is huge. Same is true for downhill skiing. And even sports like boxing or football (american) are huge despite, or perhaps even partially BECAUSE of their dangers.

And they are huge as SPECTATOR sports because people like bread and circuses. At least half the crowd at an auto race is hoping for a crash. Humans are pretty bloodthirsty creatures, and our media plays on and enhances that attribute.

Now, how do you make diving a spectator sport? More importantly, why would you WANT to? Why does EVERYTHING in our society have to gravitate to the XFL, WWE, reality television lowest common denominator? Why, every time people find something that offers respite from the hype-fest, some huckster comes seeking to destroy it?

Yes, I know why - money. People are such *****s.

Now this is not to say that a sport MUST be dangerous

Actually, according to Hemingway, by definition it must - everything else he said was just a game.

But I think it is also not as big a deterrent as we might think...

You just aren't going to be happy until there's a diving spectacle hosted by Jerry Springer with some diver calling himself "He hate me," are you?

 

[bfw]

Because not everything in life has to be a competition.

. . . why not just chill out and enjoy the vast riches which Mother Earth has given us?

Finally, the voice of reason.

 

[ClayJar]

Competitive diving strikes me as odd a concept as competitive zoo visiting or competitive art appreciation... or maybe competitive tanning... or competitive napping (now with lemonade sipping).

It's possible to make anything a competition, but what would be the point? Only the ultra-competitive would care. Sure, you can have "classroom games" (like the ones you might have on a field trip or in a pool), but those are more diversions and games than competition or sport.

Frankly, I figure enough divers loathe the jerk on the boat who has to be "better" than everyone that even if there was an interesting competition, they would avoid it at all costs.

 

[bfw]

I do not want to turn the underwater world into a battlefield. But I do think Diving is having a few issues staying relevant.

What's this 'relevant' crap? Everything doesn't have to be a media event, be on the six o'clock news every night, be all the buzz at the sports bar.

Maybe you should spend some time examining why you feel this need for the hordes of mindless lemmings out there to approve your recreational activities.

Maybe not for those here on these boards, but for the wider community out there who has yet to discover the reefs and waters of the world.

The wider community will only wreck it. There is nothing good in this world that can survive being "discovered" by the mainstream.

 

[bfw]

You are right. But the point is not that people begin racing cars because they watch Nascar. The point is that people become more aware of their cars because of it.

That's a load of crap. Most NASCAR fans can't drive a stick shift, and wouldn't know a unequal control arm independent rear end from a solid axle and leaf springs. I've spoken to dozens of NASCAR fans who believe fuel injection is a government conspiracy to cut horsepower and slow people down.

That is why millions are spent by car companies and advertisers on it and everyone at least has heard of Nascar, even if they don't follow it.

The advertisers do so because people want a car with the same LABEL as Ricky Bobbie's car, even if it's a piece of junk that has nothing in common with the race car.

Keep digging, Jason. You're just making it more distasteful.

 

[jason.elias]

You just aren't going to be happy until there's a diving spectacle hosted by Jerry Springer with some diver calling himself "He hate me," are you?

Well.

I guess the most difficult part is trying to have a respectful discussion.

But let's accept you feel what you do. Back to my point..

Diving has a high attrition rate - according to one study, only 7% of Divers ever Dive after one year of Certification. It also has a poor retention rate - by one estimate less than 20% of all Divers who continue Diving after the first year ever become "Active Divers", defined in one study as those who Dive at least more than once a year.

Additionally, new Diver Certifications have declined by roughly 2.5% each year for the last two decades. And the demographic of Diving continues to climb, with the median age now at 46.

And finally, in a 2003 survey, non-divers, when asked why they didn't want to be certified gave these as some of the primary reasons:
• Its an “isolated” experience
• It is too difficult
• It is too dangerous or frightening
• It is too boring
• There are concerns about the quality of training
• People don’t know where to learn
• There is no-one to do it with

SO, the question is not so much about my personal decision to destroy the entire Dive Industry with my crass motives, but INSTEAD to try to find a way to help an ailing industry that allows us to do what we love...

I have spoken to a number of very dedicated but listing Dive Shop owners who have struggled in the last few years. And the prospects are even worse for the industry with a possible recession looming...

The question is how to help the Sport - or activity - we all love so much, how to help it reach out to new people so that it can flourish..

All that being said, your unbridled verbage actually made my wife and I laugh... And I apologize I upset you so much...

 

[bfw]

The reefs of the world, as we Divers know, are amazing. Yet, as you pointed out, they are few and fragile, and they need help.

And more people crawling around the reefs won't help.

And though Diving could be a perfect vehicle to translate that into action with a larger community,

Right, because NOBODY ever drives a Lincoln Navigator into Yellowstone and tosses out a candy wrapper. Experience has shown that making wilderness and nature more accessible and familiar to the public only makes them take it for granted. Familiarity breeds contempt.

 

[sigourneya]

If you are interested in starting or having a competitive scuba dive club or contest, I found this website Underwater Society of America Click on the scuba dive link on the left and it will tell you how and what is involved. If found this link/society while forming my underwater hockey team. (Yes, I am captain of an underwater hockey team, which you can incorporate SCUBA if you'd like. That's competitive enough )

 

[bfw]

Though I appreciate what you are saying, I don't understand why this has to be true.

Because a PERSON is rational; PEOPLE are not.

Might the same have been said of many, many (in fact all) participator sports before they were spectator sports? Skiing? Golf? Swimming? These all had obstacles to people seeing the entire event, yet they now draw large crowds at the events and bigger ones on TV...

And many sports have been ruined by spectation. Triathlon legalized drafting for pros to make for more compelling TV footage, and ruined the sport. The major spectator sports allow star athletes to get away with behavior most parents wouldn't accept from their 10 year olds.

 

[GLENFWB]

Oh good grief, the OP said it was his love of diving that is the motivation to get others involved, not that he thinks its a bore. I think he makes a great point. We love this sport, this activity, this participation event, or whatever the heck else you want to call it. Sad when people say that something will NEVER be popular....or something will never work. There are a lot of great ideas that were the right thing at the wrong time.

I love how the SB "cold water committee" shows up anytime someone suggests something new. No one wants to tear up reefs, destroy the tranquility of your diving, push things to dangerous limits....he asked a simple question. What can be done to help bring this event we all love to a new generation? Not a bad question at all. O

The OP is right on the money....many of us are diving because of an early TV show that featured diving.....many of us had the love of diving instilled in us by watching a guy with a thick French accent, show us things we had never seen before. I was hooked from an early age....how, by seeing others experience it before I ever knew what Scuba was.

Nah, getting a new generation interested in diving is not possible....there is an old saying in sales, "If you think you can't....YOU CAN'T" I say, I love Scuba Diving so much I want others to experience it too......So, DREAM ON....let's explore new ways to make it happen.

I am constantly amazed at the threads and attempts to make diving more attractive. If it's you think it's such a crashing bore, then why do you do it?