Dennis Nobles: Best Coach Ever

[pole cat]

The Tyson Invitational was a great meet for FSU pole vaulting
Lacy Janson 4.37m 14'4" 1st place
Matt Hurley 5.06m 16'7" 1cm pr 2nd place
Tori Allen 12'1/4" college pr

But behind the scenes there is one man that made it all possible and his name is Dennis Nobles. He is not only the best coach in the world in my opinion, but he goes out of his way to help his athletes succeed.
While some teams arrived at Tyson with no poles due to the shipping company not being able to fit poles on their planes, Coach Nobles goes the extra 1000 miles to ensure that our pole bag reaches its final destination.
The journey begins Thursday Morning at 4:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. He leaves Tallahassee to begin the preliminary 4-hour drive to the Orlando Airport. A job for at least two men, this coach goes at it alone after a certain thrower, who will remain nameless, failed to find coach's house before departure. So, by himself, he hoists the poles on top of the van and commences tying the poles down in an intricate array of wrapping and granny knots until the bag is tight and secure. He fights the necessity of sleep and drives on into the great unknown, hoping against hope that all will go according to plan. He arrives at the airport to ship the poles via air cargo where they will await him not in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but a whole state away in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Taking the connector flight he arrives in Tulsa to resume his mission to deliver his precious cargo. He unloads the bag from air cargo and begins the trek to the rental van a mere furlong away. All by his lonesome he musters up the strength to haul the bag filled with 12 of our poles and heavy plastic tubing to the waiting rental van. Fighting snow and extreme cold, he considers giving up, aborting the task and dropping the heavy burden then and there and quitting all together. But somehow he finds the strength to carry on. Thinking of his athletes first, he carries on, giving every last bit of strength left in his body to get those poles to the van. Its in sight, the van is parked within sight and he races towards the finish line. In a last gasp, he hoists the bag onto the roof and breaks his fast on the sweet taste of Peanut M&M's.
The bag is once again tied to the roof of the red rental minivan, and he begins another legs of his journey. He recalls the drive 4 years ago to nationals from Tulsa to Fayetteville Where he fought through 7 hours of standstill traffic only to arrive just before the men’s competition exhausted from the nightmarish trek. But this Renaissance man finds once again the will to carry on and speeds through traffic and snow on US 412 towards Fayetteville. He arrives at the Hampton Inn at 11:00 PM Central Time and immediately collapses in his room after the 20-hour journey.
I get up early to eat the continental breakfast and look outside to see a blue bag nestled on top of a rental van. I raced out side to the fluttering flurries of snowflakes and a pole bag with the letters "F.S.U." in it. It was as if Santa himself had come to deliver our poles on this Christmas-y morning. But it wasn't Christmas, and it was not Santa Clause who delivered our gift but rather Saint Dennis, who fought the elements to deliver our implements to us. I stood in the snow thinking, "This coach is truly noble."
But his job was not yet over, for he had to coach three vault competitions, two rounds of triple jump and long jump, and one high jumper. Inspired by the legendary effort on Coach's part, we had two pr's and a great win for Lacy. The meet was a success thanks to the works of a great man.
Sunday at 4:30 AM we awoke to leave the hotel to notice that the little red van with the poles on top had disappeared just as quickly as it arrived. Thus began the journey home, which will no doubt be as (if not more) painstaking than the way over. Through the same path as before, the lonely man travels on, this time with an heir of success in his mind and the satisfaction of a job well done. Will he make it back? I hope so, and I pray that his good deeds don't go unrewarded. I await his arrival back home and wish him Godspeed on his journey. We will no doubt meet again this week where he will coach and criticize my technique in order to better my height. But next time I will treat him with the respect that he deserves because after last weekend he is no longer just my coach, but a legend.

Dennis Nobles: Best Coach Ever

[belmore]

Definitely coach of the year in my book. I want to thank this athlete for taking the time to write such a heartfelt thanks to her coach. I'll bet he felt he was just doing his job. It's obvious to me and of course to his vaulters he took that extra step to ensure they could compete. Great story thanks for sharing.

[mowad1]

That journey sounds familiar. It is a journey made by many pole vault coaches annually but I will agree that Dennis Nobles is a super nice guy. I had a brief opportunity to speak with him in Fayetteville, AK last year. Very gracious...