Fleecing the Collegiates

[Luminous 0]

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How am I any different the the Academy types?

They're currently in the Armed Forces. Your not.

Sorry, it's that simple.

[AggieDave 6]

No, being under an ROTC contract puts you into the military, if you mess up your ass is inlisted. You are also held to the military code of justice, same as the Academy types. For example, if you have a NROTC contract (scholorship) you are a Midshipmen with the same requirements and rules as those in the Naval Academy. It is no different!

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

[apoil 0]

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i contacted the whole board of directors, as well as hearing "hey, if i were in your guy's shoes, i'd do the same thing" from one regional director, which i think it wise not to mention [his/her] name

It's irresponsible not to mention the name.
This is an election year, and the directors are public figures. As such they lose the right to anonymity.

[Trevor 0]

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No, being under an ROTC contract puts you into the military, if you mess up your ass is inlisted. You are also held to the military code of justice, same as the Academy types. For example, if you have a NROTC contract (scholorship) you are a Midshipmen with the same requirements and rules as those in the Naval Academy. It is no different!

It's not really an issue of which academy is harder or which cadets are really in the military. It's just a question of whether the school will fund it or not. A & M seems to have no trouble funding an excellent football program- I don't know why they wouldn't want to fund a regular parachute jump opening each game like at West Point. It's a good show and adds a military element to it.
From the utterly embarassing football game against Navy last weekend that I was unfortunate enough to have witnessed in person, I can assure you that USMA is not spending too much money on football.
I wholeheartedly agree you are all getting screwed with that $150 fee, though. You should pay for your jumps plus the same fee as regular nationals. And on top of that- your schools already bloated athletic departments should be footing the bill.

-Trevor

[quade 3]

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You should pay for your jumps plus the same fee as regular nationals.

Ok, I'm going to take a stab at trying to make sense out of this one, but first things first.

How many teams were scheduled to go to the Collegiate meets as opposed to the Nationals?

I'm -guessing-, but I'm also thinking there is an economy of scale to the Nationals that the Collegiates don't enjoy.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[RozeAY 0]

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120 for college kids but 40 for the Nationals?

The registration fees for Collegiates is too expensive in my opinion. But it really isn't that much more than Nationals. The $120 fee at Collegiates covers the entire event. After that you can compete in as many events as you'd like with only the extra added cost of jumps.

For example, at Collegiates, to just compete in 4way it would cost my team $804 (that includes all 4 $120 registration fees and the $324 event fee for 4way which includes video). Nationals cost my team $1300. That is a $40 registration fee PLUS a $60 event fee. Then it was an additional $160 for jumps. Summed over 5 people (must include video) that is $1300. Granted that is 10 rounds instead of 4. So if you are only looking at registration and event fees (not jumps) Collegiates for my team is $480 but Nationals was $500.

So we're comparing a $120 registration fee to a $100 fee. Yes it is more. And yes it sucks. But skydiving is an expensive sport. Plus that $120 allows you to compete in as many events as you want. Nationals only had the $40 reg fee but it had an event fee for every event. Not to mention Collegiates isn't going to have the turnout Nationals does so they have to charge more for judges, coaches, etc. I'm not saying its fair or it doesn't suck, because it does. But unfortunately, there is little that can be done about it other than going to the BOD. And its a little late in the year to get anything done right now.

Good luck with whatever course of action you decide.

[RozeAY 0]

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And on top of that- your schools already bloated athletic departments should be footing the bill.

Skydiving is not an NCAA sanctioned sport like football, baseball, etc. Therefore skydiving clubs are merely clubs, not athletic associations and not funded by the athletic department.

[AggieDave 6]

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Skydiving is not an NCAA sanctioned sport like football, baseball, etc. Therefore skydiving clubs are merely clubs, not athletic associations and not funded by the athletic department

Exactly. That is why I was trying to get the military to foot the bill for a Corps of Cadets team, but they refused.

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

[Watcher 0]

Just try to get it added to whatever budget your school gives the club. Last year we had 1800 dollars between 2 people. Its all about the school budget.

Jonathan

[cmnorris 0]

Our school gives us about $5000, but we are not supposed to spend our money on competitions. To get money for that we must apply to become a sports club (instead of just a regular club, I suppose). We are in the process of doing this now, but your sports club is first put on probation for one year before receiving any money. On top of that, in order to continue getting money you must fundraise 25% of your annual budget every year.


Also, the registration fees for collegiates were not posted until some time in October. Traveling expenses are a big deal at our school and you must have advance permission (very far in advance) if you want everything to be covered. Finding out that registration was so expensive that late was the major issue for our club.

I think that the idea of a national collegiate skydiving association is a good idea, even if it was simply a place that people could turn to find out more info on how to set up clubs or how to grow clubs. Having a yahoo college skydiving e-mail list that is little used is not really accomplishing anything.

[Watcher 0]

Ah I see. Yes our club is listed under a sports club. And Collegiates is list in the charter as having to attend. Our budget is mostly devoted to rig upkeep of the 7-8 rigs we own. We are possibly putting in an at cost aff program to promote membership, if we can get 30 people paying club dues every semester then the club itself can sponsor the collegiate events. but we ask for something like 50 - 75% more than we expect to get knowing they are going to cut it down. Also if you are granted something from the pervious year even if you do not need it next year keep it in the budget, you might be able to move funds from one area to another.

Of course a large problem that is encountered with have a collegiate association is the fact that a normal under grad student is only in school for 3-4 years (well 4-6 at GaTech it seems) and most do not get into the sport their first year. So the interest to keep the association together with expirenced people is very hard.

Also I was thinking that as far as collegiates go if you want to see more events then we need to ask for them. Ie if we want to have CRW back we need to show that we want CRW and have a interest. Also I was thinking that eight way might not be too hard to do and I would like to See eight way added. And I bet 10 way would be a blast to do also!!

Jonathan

[VivaHeadDown 0]

You know, it wasn't too long ago that I was a college student in a college club trying my best to get as much for everyone and the club as possible. There's a reality that many of you are missing, and a great deal of hope/complaining that is unfounded. Skydiving will never be a sport. Imagine yourselves as being equals with the Dungeons & Dragons club, not the football team. Never believe that because the military schools get it, you should. They have the resources of the United States, and may have to give their lives if asked to. It's a package deal. It's one you can choose if you so please. And if you want anything to get accomplished, it'll take twice as much work as you can possibly imagine.

Once you wrap your mind around that, there are a great many things that college skydivers can achieve. Our club had a great relationship with Skydive Deland, thanks to the owner, that we both benefitted from (one of the many examples was we brought as much tandem business and AFF as possible, and they cut prices to achievable levels). We had some of the best Boogies each semester there that I'll never forget. We stuck to the priorities of making skydiving as accessible as possible to the campus population by finding the best deals, cheap gear rental, and a network of people so that feeling of family prevails even when we don't get our way. We had parties, trips to the Tunnel, and designated jump weekends all the time. College is a busy demanding time, it's incredible just how much we did. Anything above and beyond, like the fringe that compete in collegiates, is gonna be a hard earned bonus, not given.

Now stop complaining and just jump. Or do something constructive, and most likely involving a lot of thankless work, to make your needs happen. Hell, I put three years into a small club and with the cooperation of a few others, turned it into one of the strongest clubs on campus. I have yet to develop as strong of a group as we had, and I lived at a DZ for 9 months some time after that. The point I want to make is that few of the current members know who I am, or that the benefits they have are because of a small group of people who really wanted to create this. And I've got no problem with that. The time I spent was it's own reward, as cliche as that sounds. I love skydiving because it wasn't about the work, or the perks, or anything else that can cloud the one important thing: going out to the DZ to jump with friends.

I realize this is a forum, so people can share their opinions no matter what they are. But what good are they if you don't see them through to them becoming reality?

I am not a writer, so if this jumps around too much for you, it really does follow one thought. To sum it up: Get over it, or see it through to its completion. In the mean time, never let it stop you from jumping, and keep politics out of the decision making process as much as possible.

[falleneros 0]

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keep politics out of the decision making process as much as possible.

Hilarious.

"Beware the fury of a patient man."-John Dryden
Texas A&M Skydiving Club