JUMP!

Soaring among clouds part of routine for student

The adrenaline began to mount. Up to that point, the dream had been just that — a dream, something he only thought about. This was different though. The butterflies were getting stronger in his stomach. As soon as he lept from the plane, his mind began to race, and he thought, 'What am I doing?' As the ground rushed toward him, he suddenly remembered what he was doing, and the feeling was amazing.

Sophomore Matthew Seitz not only has fulfilled his dream of becoming a skydiver, but has gone on to win national recognition at the annual United States Parachute Association's Collegiate National Parachuting Championships in December 2003, a competition that involved 77 students from 17 colleges and universities around the United States.

In the Beginning

Although the competition was fierce, the dream for Seitz began at an age when competition was far from his mind. Seitz has known since he was 8 years old that he wanted to skydive. By that time, his mother had performed about 17 jumps, and Seitz recalled watching her skydive as a motivating factor in his decision to skydive as well. "It was the look in her eyes [that made me want to skydive]," Seitz said.

Kimberly Seitz, Matthew's mother, said, "I jumped when he was younger, and he made me promise I would let him skydive for his 18th birthday."

Kimberly's skydiving days were cut short by a car accident, however, which injured her back and made her wary of jumping again. Matthew took up where she left off when he turned 18. He made his first jump in September 2001 at Skydive Orange in Orange and received his license in January of the following year after completing the required 25 jumps. He said if he had the money for jumping, he would have received it sooner.

Prices for the first skydive vary, according to Skydive Orange's Web site, www.skydiveorange.com. The tandem skydive course for beginners is $220, and the accelerated free-fall first skydive course is $325.

Let the Competition Begin

Once Seitz had his license, he had bigger plans; however, the road to the Collegiate Championships was not easy. The first obstacle Seitz had to overcome was finding a partner. He wanted to compete in the Collegiate Championships since he got to college, but had difficulty finding another college student who would be his teammate. For one of the events in which Seitz hoped to compete — the 2-Way Relative Work, in which a skydiver falls belly to earth — the rules stipulated that the teammates had to have completed less than 126 jumps, and Seitz had 125 at the time. After meeting Alicia McCraw of George Mason University in August 2003 through Skydive Orange, Seitz and McCraw decided to compete together. According to Seitz, they received a list of formations for the competition that had to be performed in sequence together. Every time the teammates would come together, they would receive a point. The team with the most points won the competition.

After finding a partner, Seitz began working on raising money for the event.

"I completed 40 jumps [at the competition] at $20 a jump, plus the cost of gas and food," Seitz said. "There was also registration, which was $100." Seitz managed to raise almost $800 through donations and working. He also recruited eight JMU students by distributing fliers and holding a meeting to raise student interst in skydiving, and took them to Skydive Orange for their first jumps. Skydive Orange then donated a small sum to Seitz's fund.

"[Seitz] really went above and beyond to help us enjoy our first time skydiving," said sophomore Kristin Ditzler, whose first time skydiving was after Seitz spoke to her at his meeting. "I think he is a dedicated and avid skydiver who really is excited about it and shares that excitement with others."

After conquering the financial issue, it seemed nothing would stop him. In September 2003, Seitz's dreams of competition were dampened once again, however, when he received an injury to his ankle during a practice jump, which kept him out of school for three weeks. Seitz landed the wrong way on his ankle and broke it in three places. After surgery, in which two pins and three screws were put into his ankle, Seitz was worried he wouldn't be able to compete.

"That's the first thing that crossed through my head," Seitz said. "I thought, 'damn it, I'm not going to be able to go to Collegiates.'"

After five weeks of being in a cast and over a month of physical therapy, Seitz was cleared to compete one week before the competition began. At the competition, which takes place at the Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales, Fla., Seitz placed third in the Free-Flying competition, fourth in the 2-Way RW competition, and fifth in the Sport Accuracy competition.

Sky's the Limit

To this day, Seitz has completed 149 jumps and has big plans for the future as well. "I am going to become a skydiving coach in February," Seitz said. "I hope to become an instructor some day." Skydiving coaches must first take a class, and then they receive about $20 per jump, according to Seitz. Instructors must be coaches for one year and then take a rigorous instructor course, after which they earn about $45 per jump and perform anywhere from 10 to 25 jumps per day.

Seitz also attempted to start a skydiving club at JMU but was told it never would be approved due to liability for the adviser. Although Seitz continued to try to establish a club, he hasn't succeeded.

The lack of a club has not deterred Seitz from the sport, though. "I'm part of the select few that do it," he said. "Some people go on vacation once a year, but for a skydiver, pretty much every weekend is a vacation."Anyone interested in skydiving can contact Seitz at jmuskydive@yahoo.com.