Diving for high school when there is no team

Question
Dear Tom, My son dives with Stanford Diving Club and goes to school at Lowell High School n San Francisco.  I have heard it is possible to enter the high school diving CCS Section championships even if your school doesn't have a diving team, and I am wondering how to find out how to do that.

Thanks

Josie

Answer
Josie -

I'll give you some background information on high school swimming and diving and then suggest a way to get your son in the C.C.S. meet in May.

The C.I.F. (CA Interscholastic Federation) divides the state into sections. Lowell H.S. is in the San Francisco section. This section has a boys swim league but chooses not to have diving as one of the events because there are so few diving boards in your city. I know of only two pools with boards, one at St. Ignatius H.S. and the other at USF.

South of San Francisco is the Central Coast Section. Some leagues in C.C.S. also have no diving teams due to lack of boards. An example are kids who go to school north of Palo Alto and south of S.F. have no diving in their league. High school age divers who go these schools petition the closest league with diving and try to dive in that league championship as a way of qualifying for C.C.S.

The best way for you to find out how to go about getting him in high school meets is to contact the C.C.S. offices directly and ask to speak with an assistant commissioner that oversees swimming and diving.Their website is www.cifccs.org. Click on 'Homepage' and then CCS Sports, CCS Sports again and then Swim & Dive. Navigate your way to finding out who the right person is to make your request.You might also ask the Lowell H.S. Athletic Director for some help. This person may have to be the one that petitions another league or the C.C.S. offices.

Good luck. I hope he is allowed to compete.