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Lodi diving coach Robert Paoletti has a country to serve, leaving his wife, Michelle, with a team to lead
Mar 05, 2010 (Lodi News-Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Last year when there was no one to coach the Lodi High diving team, former Flame Robert Paoletti swooped in and saved the day.
Now his wife Michelle is stepping in to do the same while her husband is on another mission -- serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.
When Robert took over for the Flames last year, he knew he might be return to Iraq. So when the Stockton Police officer, who serves in the California National Guard's 49th Military Police Brigade, got the call to return, he knew he'd have to take a leave of absence from his coaching.
So Michelle is taking the reins this season until Robert returns. He was deployed last fall and is scheduled to return in five months.
While Robert is an experienced diver who competed for the Flames, Michelle is not. She convinced her husband to coach Lodi last year and then the tables turned this year, with him asking her to take over. While the coaching requires a lot of learning and time, Michelle almost feels like it is connecting her to her husband while he's gone.
"It is really hard with him gone for our family," she said. "But with diving, I think it will help make the time go by faster. I won't just be sitting at home and thinking about it."
Robert recently returned to Lodi for his two-week, mid-tour break. He was only in town from Feb. 14 to March 3, but every day the Flames had practice, he was there. Michelle was right by him, picking up as many tips as possible. Robert said he loved being out with the team, which grew from four divers in 2009 to 11 this year.
"It's been nice. We have grown substantially which is great," Robert said on Tuesday before leaving for Iraq on Wednesday. "This season is going to be very good for us as long as they continue to progress as they have the last two weeks."
Sophomore diver Natasha McDougal, a returner from last year, said she enjoyed having Robert coach the last two weeks. She admitted it was hard when he left, but also added that it has drawn the team closer together. She said she and her teammates are committed to work hard for Robert while he's gone.
"It's motivational because while he was gone, I learned another dive because I wanted to show it to him when he got back," she said. "Now I am trying to learn another new one so I can show him again when he gets back."
Even though he's now halfway across the globe, Robert still plans on doing some coaching from a distance. Michelle is going to post video of the Lodi divers on the Internet so Robert can see it and critique it. The divers will also be able to stay in touch with Robert, who said he has Internet access almost daily, through Facebook.
The advancement of communication though the Internet has progressed significantly since Robert's last tour in Iraq in 2005-06. Now he can keep up with his divers, and more importantly, his family.
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"Thank God for Skype. I talk to my family almost every day," Robert said. "I am hoping to get some video and watch the divers too."
Last season, Lodi was almost forced to cancel its season because the diving board stands at the Lodi High pool were condemned. Michelle led a campaign to raise enough to repair one board, but not both of them. With 11 divers sharing one board this season, the divers are trying to raise anther $7,000 to get their second board up and running again. On March 20, the team will be holding a barbecue outside Food 4 Less to try and raise more money.
Michelle started acquiring knowledge about diving by observing her husband last year and learned from her daughter Haleigh Schnell, a junior on the team who is also Robert's stepdaughter. Michelle also read books and watched videos to educate herself. She and Schnell are even driving to Roseville to train under Dos Rios Divers coach Mike Brown, a diving coach with 28 years experience. She was making multiple trips a week before the season started, and now is going every Saturday. At practice, Michelle sets up a TV that records the Flames' dives, then allows them to watch them immediately after. It's just one of the tools she's learned to help the divers perfect their dives.
"It's great because it's working. I give them directions and then they do it and it's sweet," she said.
During one of Michelle's sessions with Brown, she learned that he taught a 50-year-old how to dive. At age 39, and with a budding love for the sport of diving, Michelle is now planning on taking on the sport herself. Her 12-year-old son Nicolas also wants to get involved. Then he'll be ready to join the Flames when Schnell graduates. By then, Michelle plans to be coaching alongside her husband.
"We are making it a family thing and hopefully we will be around for a while," she said.
Contact reporter Joelle Milholm at joellem@lodinews.com.
To see more of the News-Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.lodinews.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Lodi News-Sentinel, Calif.
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