Growing up, Diving Coach Manny Pollard, has watched the Olympics with the dream of competing on that stage one day. He watched Olympic divers Laura Wilkinson, Kelci Bryant, David Boudia, Troy Dumais, etc, realize their Olympic dreams and he was captivated by pride and admired of their achievements among all the other amazing athletes at the Games. That’s when his dream of reaching that stage came alive. The Olympics bred drive and motivation into him that ultimately got him two state championships and a scholarship to a university.

Now, with the ultimate goal of becoming the F1RST Black Olympic Diving Coach, Manny Pollard has spent his life learning and gaining experience on how he can achieve this dream. After graduating college as a 3X All American diver from the University of Minnesota, diving under Olympic coach Wenbo Chen, he moved to China to find ways to learn techniques and skills that work in developing strong athletes. After a year in Beijing , he moved back to the U.S. and began coaching at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, where over the three years Manny’s athletes were able to take down all school records, qualify an athlete to the NCAA championships and an Olympic trials qualifier (all firsts in program history).

During covid, he knew he would need a change in order to achieve this goal and he decided to return to school and continue learning about everything it takes to be a world level coach. He applied and was accepted in to the Sports Management Master’s Program at the University of Texas, Austin, where he moved and coached alongside Olympic Coach Matt Scoggin. After 4 years at the program, Manny aided, watched, assisted and coached the Texas Longhorns to one NCAA team and individual title, several USA National diving champions, world championship team members, a 2024 Olympian, and earned valuable experience on the international stage broadening his eyes on what it takes to be world class.

Now he is ready to make an impact and help change the trajectory of Diving and go full throttle for his Olympic goals and dreams.

Team F1RST is a nonprofit with a repeatable, sustainable model to elevate the next generation of athletes, who need more than talent to succeed; they need belief, resources, and opportunity. We invest in elite athletes who want the opportunity to train wholeheartedly for their dream with the support of a team.

Team F1RST understands the value of long term development of talent and investing into athletes who want the opportunity to train for their biggest dreams and how it will change the landscape of diving. We are assembling a full support system for the high performing athletes we support through: coaching, strength and conditioning, sports psychology, nutrition, physiotherapy, and mental wellness, and other resources athletes may need to take them to the next level. It’s the kind of comprehensive infrastructure other countries offer their Olympians and now, we’re building it here in preparation for LA2028.

We believe that with the right investment, Team F1RST can contribute to the changing tides where diving can return to being a celebrated Olympic sport it once was when Manny was young and before.

We invite supporters, sponsors, and collaborators to be part of something historic, built from the ground up with purpose, pride, and performance.

The vision is bold, the opportunity is rare. The time is now.