Fraser Valley Diving is a volunteer-operated registered society that provides diving instruction to youth in all communities east of Vancouver for the past 13 years. We are affiliated with Dive BC, Canadian Amateur Diving Association (CADA) and Pacific Sport of the Fraser Valley. We fund our operations through various government grants, fundraising and training fees paid by the members. Every coach is a current or former diver themselves at the national level or higher. They are required to pass written exams and demonstrate practical experience in the areas of ethics, technical expertise and then work with a mentor coach for a period on no less than 12 months. All coaches 19 & older require a criminal record check.
We opeate 12 months of the year and offer many opportunties for all divers, including the beginners, to participate in local competitions and shows. We also offer fundraising opportuntities for our members to help them raise money that they can then use to pay for meet fees, travel, team attire or training fees. You decide how you want to spend your fundraising dollars. There will be some fundraisers that will be dedicated to help offset coaching costs for competitions that will be identified at the beginning of the fundraising effort. We have divers competing at the provincial, national & international level. Most of our divers age 18 and older are now attending a university in the United States on a full or partial sports scholarship.
Fraser Valley Diving (originally the Delta Diving Club) started in 1996 as a viable alternative for divers who otherwise would be forced to travel to downtown Vancouver for training. Fraser Valley Diving is the Pacific Sport Regional Training Centre for the sport of diving in the Fraser Valley. Our home base is the Walnut Grove Community Centre in Langley. Our members travel from Delta, Mission, Coquitlam and as far away as Chilliwack to train.
Our history is rich with success.
Club founder, Cathie Melrose, is a former national team member and age-group national champion on the 10-metre platform. Attending the University of Southern California on a diving scholarship, Cathie finaled at several NCAA championships. Cathie was the recipient of the Sport BC President’s award for outstanding achievement in the sport of diving. The award was presented to Cathie from Dive BC Director Bev Boys.
Head Coach, Kostya Karibyan, started with Fraser Valley Diving in 2005. Kostya, former coach of the Ukraine National Team is NCCP Level 3 certified. Kostya’s first coaching position in Canada was with the Prince George Mantas. He moved to Vancouver in 2003 and coached the Vancouver Aquatic Centre divers for a period of two years. Kostya has helped to develop most of the divers from the BC Mainland.
Our up and coming champions of the future are developed through Ashley Impellezzere. As mentioned above, Ashley has been an active member of the club for many years - recently hanging up her suit for coaching opportunities. She is also active in cheerleading and as attended the World Cheerleading Championships this past season in Florida. Ashley's kind smile and encouraging ways will produce many fine divers in the future.
