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Fraley named Nike Coach of the Year
12-2-2003


GREENSBORO, N.C. – Bob Fraley, the chair of USATF men’s pole vault development and Director of Track & Field at Fresno State University, has been named USA Track & Field’s 2003 Nike Coach of the Year. Fraley will receive the award Friday, December 5, at Jesse Owens Awards Dinner and Xerox Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held at USATF’s 2003 Annual Meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina.


Fraley played a pivotal role in rejuvenating the pole vault in the United States when in 1989 he created the Pole Vault Summit, now held in Reno, Nevada. Featuring competitions and an exchange of knowledge about pole vaulting, the event attracts more than 2,000 male and female athletes, from teen-agers to Olympic gold medalists. His work has reaped dividends: in the last three years alone, Team USA men’s pole vaulters have won the gold and silver medals at both the 2000 Olympic Games and 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships, as well as the bronze medal at the 2001 World Outdoor Championships.


In 2003, his contributions reached a new level when he donated his salary to the school’s men’s track program in order to prevent it from being cut due to budgetary reasons.


“I feel very honored, but I’m more shocked than anything,â€Â

http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/bulldog ... 8901c.html

Fraley wins USA Track honor
Fresno State coach is organization's coach of the year.
By Sheila Mulrooney Eldred
The Fresno Bee
(Published Wednesday, December 3, 2003, 5:49 AM)

Despite all the media attention, from Sports Illustrated to Fox Sports Net to CNN, despite all the phone calls and letters and "a lot of really nice interviews with people across the nation," Bob Fraley still couldn't imagine this.
On Friday, the 22-year Fresno State coach receives USA Track & Field's Coach of the Year award.

"I had been told a week or so ago that I was going to be given an award, and I was to come back to Greensboro, North Carolina, and to bring my wife," he said. "And then, I wasn't sure exactly what it was, because there are several awards ceremonies. There's one for administrators and officials, and at first I thought maybe that's what they were talking about. And then I found out it was the Nike Coach of the Year, the highest award you can get, and it's during the Jesse Owens banquet, not during the morning ceremony. It's the main thing.

"I was very, very shocked. Very excited about it, but totally unexpected. Just totally unexpected. Because I'd never been to one of those awards things. I knew they had a coach of the year, but I'd never given it much thought."

Fraley's life has been a whirlwind of media attention since he offered to give up his salary of $93,000 plus $20,000 in benefits to save the track and field program at Fresno State from budget cuts. That, he said, is likely what drew attention to all the other contributions he has made to the sport.

Among those contributions: rejuvenating the pole vault in the United States; successfully lobbying the NCAA to introduce women's pole vaulting in national competition; coaching three individual NCAA titlists and 37 All-Americans; successfully lobbying for regional competition as the selection process for the NCAA national meet; and writing numerous papers and articles on topics such as how track and field can help prevent obesity and diabetes in youth.

"It couldn't happen to a better person," Fresno State athletic director Scott Johnson said. "Bob's all about being an educator. If anything, this is a great educational lesson on how people can work together and accomplish something and make it a win-win situation."

Indeed, what people have responded to the most, Fraley said, is his philosophy that a coach's job is to be an educator -- to teach the principles, values, attitudes and skills to succeed in society.

"Part of that philosophy is when the win-at-all-costs mentality becomes the philosophy of the program, and all the principles, values and attitudes are compromised," Fraley said. "In my way of thinking, that's not what you should do in education."

More than anything, perhaps, Fraley appreciates the platform he has to espouse his views on the sport he loves. He'll give a short speech Friday on how track and field fits into today's society.

It's a subject he has pondered and studied: What are other sports doing to command media attention and fans, and what track and field is not doing?

He seems to have a good handle on the answer. In 1994 he staged a pole vault competition in the French Quarter of New Orleans, where he knew he could find a crowd. An instant hit among both fans and sponsors, it morphed into the hugely popular annual event in Old Town Clovis and, along with his annual pole vault summit in Reno, Nev., helped give the pole vault national attention.

"He almost single-handedly made pole vaulting the popular phenomenon it is today in the United States, and our recent success in the event speaks for itself," USA Track & Field CEO Craig Masback said in a release.

It is still a little overwhelming for Fraley, who celebrated his 66th birthday Sunday.

"I'm just thrilled and honored that they chose me," he said. "They asked me how I feel, and I said it's like you're walking out and someone throws a rock and you don't know it's coming and it seems like it fell out of the sky."

The reporter can be reached at seldred@fresnobee.com or 441-6412.