COLLEGIATE SKYDIVING ???

[Jimchamp1 0]

Okay . . . I have been jumping for a little over three years now. Naturally, as every skydiver seems to struggle with . . . I do not have the funds to jump as much as I would like. Once I invest in my rig however, things will be much easier . . . so I am hoping for this summer.
Anyway, I went on USPA.org to check out some stuff. I don't have a ton of jumps, but I frequent Perris Valley and I ask lots of questions. I am really trying to learn. Here is my problem and I am looking for anyone who has suggestions or answers for me. Last year I tried to start a USC skydiving club. The purpose of the club was to allow young fellow skydivers to share their experiences and learn from them. I wanted to help young skydivers like myself learn the importance of staying current and be able to establish a group to gain funding to assist in that aspiration. Staying current is a great goal for students especially because of the financial obligation to school. However, my request was denied several times. The USPA sight mentioned that there are several collegiate competitions each year. I am wondering . . . where do these college students find the funds to be able to jump enough to compete? My dream is to graduate from USC and really work hard to get coaching and start up a 4-way team. I am trying to learn with every second of every jump but I can only afford to jump one day for every 60 (the minimun for "A" lisenced holders - friendly reminder) . . . I constantly read what I can and I get into the harness room and talk to the coaches before I jump to be as safe as I can . . . and I started talking to the LO's at Perris to learn to fly slots and maneuver more . . .
What does anyone recommend for me as a college student to maintain my currency, and maybe be able to eventually compete without having a college team? Any suggestions as to where to find funds or how to approach that situation? I know it's a dumb question as if there were good enough answers everyone would do it . . . just seeing what people have to say to the novice here . . .

BLUE SKIES . . . Thanks to everyone . . . THIS SPORT KICKS ASS!!!

James

[AggieDave 6]

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What does anyone recommend for me as a college student to maintain my currency, and maybe be able to eventually compete without having a college team? Any suggestions as to where to find funds or how to approach that situation?

I started jumping my Sophomore year of college. I became a packer at the DZ to pay for jumping, then I became I coach, then I became a TI.

It comes down to what you're willing to sacrifice to make your jumps happen. A lot of people sell plasma to fund jumping.

As for "several" I know of only one collegate competition, which is Collegate Nationals. There are several college kids out there looking for a pickup team for collegates as well. They're not too hard to find.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[larsrulz 0]

Packing is definitely a way to go about doing it. In my case, I worked full time during college (undergrad) so I could persue my interests, which at the time were flying and building an airplane, which were both more expensive than skydiving unfortunately. As a graduate student who picked up skydiving, I'm fortunate to get paid enough to go to school that I can feed my skydiving addiction without working quite a much.

Sometimes it requires saving that $20 of drinking money for one more jump saturday; work on campus for those two hours tuesday and thursday morning when you would much rather being sleeping in. There is definitely no easy way to have positive cash flow as a college student, but it can be done and some people (not many) do it without parents pumping them money. We have a skydiving club here, but it's a far cry from supporting any of the up jumpers. Definitely just there to get as many people into the sport as possible.

I got a strong urge to fly, but I got no where to fly to. -PF

[divnswoop 0]

I can get you in touch with Brian Smith at The Ohio State University. I(and a couple others) assisted him in getting a class together where students get course credit for a skydiving class. The course helped get the OSU club up and going. Now they do a bunch of fundraisers and raffles to assist in getting newer jumpers some financial breaks. The club sponsored a lot of the collegiate national fees the last couple years. He is currently working on a second(4 credit hour) class in addition to the current program. If the proposal goes through, the university will allow him to "cater" the class to the students skydiving level. IE: he can make the course AFF Lv2-7 for a new student who just passed the first class.....OR he can make it so the student can get the credit for passing the coaches course if they have 100 jumps. Anyway, it's been going on for a couple years now...and we have OVER 100 students signed up for the spring semester!!

As far as covering your expenses now....Find a rigger to teach you to how to pack....Be patient, it might take a little while, but think about what your working towards!

[AggieDave 6]

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I can get you in touch with Brian Smith at The Ohio State University. I(and a couple others) assisted him in getting a class together where students get course credit for a skydiving class.

Actually, I would like to know about that and try to persue that with Texas A&M.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[napaguy99 0]

I was the club president for a while before I graduated OSU. I definately feel your pain. Feel free to send any questions my way.

Swoop
They actually got the Skydiving II to go through and he's offering it now. From what I understand it's pretty flexible. You can work on just about anything you want to (skydiving related) and find a way to work it into the curriculum.

"Let the misinterpretation and attacks begin."

[Tink1717 2]

Universities are sometimes weird about what they will fund and what they won't. My experience at the University of Maryland was that they will fund the clubs existence and support things like club trips and time in the tunnel for "training", but would have nothing to do with jumping itself. When I got to grad school at Towson University, there was no club at all. When I tried to start one, the response was not only "NO", but "HELL NO". There is an article by the guy who founded the UM club somewhere on this site (It's been a while, so you might have to dig very deep.)

I don't know of any school other than the military academies that fund a team for collegates.

Good luck forming your club.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[Harksaw 0]

Clemson University is the same way.. our skydiving club gets t a good amount of funding for gear, upkeep, and repacks, but not for anything else. I can't complain, though, they take care of us well in this area.

I pay for my jumps through packing mostly. Unless your college is near a big dropzone, I can't see being able to do this enough to pay for all your team jumps. My perception is that most collegiate skydiving teams are spending their independent wealth.

__________________________________________________
I started skydiving for the money and the chicks. Oh, wait.

[airtwardo 7]

This is a letter that was published in "Parachutist"
a few months back....
It was in answer to a letter from a student
about the high cost of going to the nationals...

May spark some thought~

*********************************************

I took special interest in the ‘Who Foots the Bill’ articles in Februarys “Letters and Viewpoints” section.
Like the author of the first letter , I went to Southern Illinois University. And like the author of the second, I went to my first Collegiate Nationals in 1980.
Reading the letter from SIU’s Mr. Lee, I question which has changed in these 20 some years, the University or the Student.
I actually decided upon Southern Illinois University as I was told they had an active parachute team. Unfortunately I was to later find out that if there was to be a team, it would be up to me and another rookie jumper to start it. We did, and in the process learned more than any business class could hope to offer.
Perhaps a few ideas on how we got to the Nationals back then, would be of some help to the current club.
You might start by thinking big, endeavor to be the top sports organization on campus. Become visible, generate interest. We advertised like crazy for members, experienced jumpers and hopefuls alike, all were welcomed. We gave presentations in the Student Union, Dorms, Frats, to other athletic clubs and student organizations...anywhere, anyone would have us. In no time, we had one of the largest club memberships on campus. Join the club and get a cool skydiving tee-shirt, and your picture in the club newsletter to send home to Mom. Soon our team/club Name and Logo were everywhere. There is power in numbers, especially if you work toward a positive goal. Our goal was to take ten team members to the Nationals, and the club worked toward it, from every angle we could think of.
We volunteered our people for food drives, Special Olympics, City-Clean-Up day. Skydiving generates media interest, press releases to City and Campus Television, Radio and Newspapers ran often, mentioning what we were up to ‘this week’. All proceeds our volunteer efforts brought, went into the competition fund. I made a deal with the local DZO for a donation of $20.00 for all 1st jump students the club brought to jump at the dropzone. Half went into the fund, half was the club members discount. As a Jumpmaster and Instructor, I taught the static-line course on campus weekly and jumpmastered them the following weekend. We never had a class numbering less than ten.
The DZO made money and the club made money.
Upon invitation, members of the Golden Knights came to an on campus meeting to school us on relative work competition, as well as do a bit of ARMY recruiting. Bill Hayes, then the regional director came to our dropzone to give instruction on Style and Accuracy. Club member’s motivation and morale was unbelievable.
We quickly became one of the more popular sports organizations on campus, with both students and faculty.
The positive press became leverage on our behalf when we approached the university for funds to “assist” us in representing our university in National Collegiate Competition. We researched all aspects of our proposal. We assured the board maximum benefit for a relatively minimal fraction of their activities budget. We represented ourselves in a professional manner, handouts from USPA, DZ photos, press clippings and testimonials were part of the presentation package.
We found the university to be very receptive to our approach.
They agreed to supply us with a transport van and fuel, camping equipment, entrance fees, and enough jump tickets for a few weekends of team practice prior to the nationals.
There was enough extra money in our club fund to pay all expenses for a weekend of inter-club competition to select the top ten that would go to Arizona.
Upon returning to school following the national meet, we gave the school board our written report. In addition to the Parachutist article covering the event, we included our observations, recommendations and goals for the following year. They were impressed enough to contract the team to perform demos into home football games. When I graduated in May of ‘81, there was over a thousand dollars in the club fund, and what the other officers and I believed to be a successful blueprint for a continued involvement in State and National competition.
Recently I visited the SIU skydiving club’s website, and I have to wonder if the club’s officers are utilizing their available resources to the fullest.
In college you are literally surrounded with smart, talented, energetic individuals looking to add achievements to a resume. Take that available labor pool, and build a company. Create a mission statement and break into teams, use the marketing people, the communications people, students of public relations and business.
Be creative, think ‘out of the box’ for ways to achieve your organization’s goals. College is a great place to start developing those kinds of skills, trust me it won’t be any easier once you hit the job market.
It appears as though the relative cost to take a team to the Collegiate Nationals really hasn’t changed much in the 20 years since I competed. I’m hoping my old club’s desire and determination to do what it takes to get there hasn’t changed either.


Jim Twardowski
D-13077
Liberty Parachute Team

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[airtwardo 7]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=971249;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

Link to another thread with similar concerns.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[bliston 0]

Aggies are the only ones I know who actually sell plasma for jump money (I think Mark McHam was the first). You guys are abnormal - in the best way.

ben

Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website


sticks!

[WrongWay 0]

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Last year I tried to start a USC skydiving club. The purpose of the club was to allow young fellow skydivers to share their experiences and learn from them. I wanted to help young skydivers like myself learn the importance of staying current and be able to establish a group to gain funding to assist in that aspiration. Staying current is a great goal for students especially because of the financial obligation to school. However, my request was denied several times.

That's a very noble cause. Starting or even just maintaining a skydiving club is a very difficult task. Think of it this way when recruiting new members. You pass out 100 flyers.....50 people show up for the first meeting.....25 people show up for the second.....15 go and do tandems ONCE......5 come to the meetings afterwards.....1 or 2 continue skydiving. And all this time, the university won't give you a dime, trust me. If you want a club or organization to make money for jumps, the best thing you can do is have a car wash or a social event, and all of that will need to be funded from your own pocket.

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The USPA sight mentioned that there are several collegiate competitions each year. I am wondering . . . where do these college students find the funds to be able to jump enough to compete?

99% of the time it's out of their own pockets (or their parents). I'm sorry, but no university will hand students money to jump out of planes, it's as simple as that. Not only is it a liability that they don't want, but unless it's an aviation school of some sort, they have no advantage or gain by handing you cash for jumps, even for competition.

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My dream is to graduate from USC and really work hard to get coaching and start up a 4-way team. .................but I can only afford to jump one day for every 60 (the minimun for "A" lisenced holders - friendly reminder) . . ..............What does anyone recommend for me as a college student to maintain my currency, and maybe be able to eventually compete without having a college team? Any suggestions as to where to find funds or how to approach that situation? I know it's a dumb question as if there were good enough answers everyone would do it . . .

It all comes down to one thing....your commitment level. How much are you willing to sacrifice to skydive? You could sell your car and get a cheaper one. You could live off of ramen noodles instead of McDonalds. You could stop going to any college parties and spending any cash on beer and such. You could sell any other equipment you have for other sports (snowboards, etc.). You could stop dating (50 bucks is 2 jumps and 2 packjobs). You could live like a hermit in your dorm room all during the week being cheap and then go jump your ass off on the weekend.

But if you want to skydive your ass off and still have a "college life", then you better either be a spoiled little shit by mommy and daddy, or be prepared to make huge sacrifices if you truly love the sport enough to really participate in it.

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[WrongWay 0]

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I can get you in touch with Brian Smith at The Ohio State University. I(and a couple others) assisted him in getting a class together where students get course credit for a skydiving class.

Actually, I would like to know about that and try to persue that with Texas A&M.

The class was excellent. I helped out with it in 2002 (or was it 2003? haha), and a ton of people came out and walked away with a good basic knowledge of the sport. Brian has done an amazing job with this program, and I can only imagine how far he's pushed it along since I was there a couple years ago. I really hope that other Universities will follow his lead.

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[RozeAY 0]

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I don't know of any school other than the military academies that fund a team for collegates.

Georgia Tech's Skydiving Club has money in the budget for training and Collegiate competition. It isn't enough to train hard with...my team, and the others since ours, definitely had to spend a lot of our own money. But we've had enough to pay for Collegiates for at least 4 or 5 years. And the amount of money has increased with the success of our teams.

[RedassSkychic 0]

We have also had trouble starting a skydiving club here as a sports club, but as a social club we've had no problems. As a social club you can get the same funding for trips and events from the university that any fraternity or community service club can get.

As for paying for skydiving as a college student, I have funded my last year and a half of jumping as a packer and now a coach. Instead of going out I drink beer and party at the dz, and I haven't been to a mall more than a few times since I started jumping. Pretty much everyone at a&m who jumps on any sort of regular basis is on staff at Skydive Aggieland.

As a club, you can do fundraisers like any other club, including hitting up alumni and old school jumpers for donations. Our trip to collegiates this past year only cost the club about $1600 for 6 competitors - a 4-way team, some sport acc and style competitors. All we had to pay for as club memebers was gas and food. Maybe next year the club will be able to pay for that too.
Good luck and let me know if you hit on anything that works!

[RedassSkychic 0]

oh yeah, and i've talked to alot of people who have used student loans to pay for skydiving. Seems to be a pretty common practice.