Incoming Mail: March 2013

Dear Rick,
I just finished working at the Seattle Boat Show – I've been attending for many years, and while it was good for us, it was not the same show of years past.

One thing I noticed was the aging of the people who attended. The crowd has seemed to age over the past ten years. I spoke with the executive director and told him about my perception. I asked him if he had any real attendance numbers. He told me the attendees are indeed aging. The divers attending these shows are getting older – where is the younger generation? It seems like diving is experiencing the same. Where are the young people? How can we continue without them?
Just sharing my thoughts,

Harry Truitt, Lighthouse Diving in Lynnwood, WA

Dear Harry,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and perception on this issue. I share your concerns about our community as well. The whole population, especially the diving community, is getting older. The younger generations are not drawn to action sports as they have been in previous years. Rather than play outside and take in nature as we did in our youth, they seem to be glued to their phones, video games, tablets, TV, etc.

Many of us are working to change the way “the kids” interact with diving and travel. In January we worked with the City of Tacoma by participating with Let’s Play: an all-day festival held at the Tacoma Dome. Aimed for kids, the event inspired them to connect in a real world setting with active sports. We partnered with Dive Around the Clock, an annual 24-hour scuba diving relay dive-a-thon charity event created by TL Sea staff instructors Kyle Larson and Larry Trenda, and Underwater Sports Tacoma to ensure an awesome time for the youngsters. About forty kids were able to try scuba firsthand – it was great!

This is concrete proof that kids are still interested in pursuing the sport of scuba. We just need to reach out to them – for the betterment of our community and our industry as a whole.

Let’s keep diving,

Rick