The UConn Skydiving Club is a group of UConn students who share a common enthusiasm for parachute jumping. We are a competitive team as a registered UConn Club Sport, but also promote a club atmosphere by jumping together nearly every weekend, and constantly encouraging and supporting new members. Although not strictly necessary, you are strongly recommended to first make a tandem skydive. You can
do that with a bunch of other UConn students on one of our regular UConn student tandem days. If you absolutely love your tandem skydive (which you will), the next step is to become a skydiving student and work towards earning your United States Parachute Association skydiving license. We also have general info meetings on Monday nights at 9 PM in Student Union Room 303. The UConn club jumps regularly at Connecticut Parachutists Inc. (CPI) in Ellington, CT. CPI offers an Accelerated Freefall (AFF) student program. The AFF program consists of numerous jumps alongside experienced instructors, wearing your own parachute, and learning to fly your body and parachute safely. As a student in AFF, you will make 25 jumps as you learn new skills on the ground and in the air. Equipment is all provided, and at the end of your 25 jumps, you will be a licensed skydiver! The total cost of AFF is roughly $2500, but is done on a pay-as-you-go basis, so can be spread out over several months if you are tight on $$. Once licensed, what comes next? Now the fun really begins. Your skydives now cost only $15-$25! Having a skydiving license lets you do solo or group jumps, jump from cool things like helicopters and hot-air balloons, do high-altitude (HALO) jumps, fly a wingsuit, and even jump at night. Best of all, it means you get to jump with the UConn club, compete at Collegiate Nationals, and enjoy all the perks of being a UConn skydiver. What are the perks? As a UConn Club Sport, the skydiving team receives annual funding for competition fees, training jumps, equipment upgrades, and wind tunnel training. In addition, the club owns 10 of its own skydiving rigs, and is eligible for funding through USG. All in all, this adds up to amazing experiences that regular people would have to pay literally thousands upon thousands of dollars for.
