“It’s said it takes a village to raise a child, but at the Levite Jewish Community Center, it takes a family of diving enthusiasts to coach the Dive Club,” writes Anne Ruisi in Over the Mountain Journal, “specifically Helen Smith and her daughters, head coach Kirsten Thomas, and assistant coaches Bailey Avina and Monica Hackney. ‘I started as a volunteer dive coach 30-plus years ago,’ Smith says. It then evolved into a family endeavor over the years as the girls dived on the team while growing up, just as she had in her youth. ‘Then they became coaches, and Kirsten runs the (LJCC’s) athletic program,’ she adds.
OTMJ finds family ties in dive club
