New to the Bay area

[ski-matic]

Hello all,

I'm a pole vaulter from Canada, and I'm looking at potentially moving to the Bay area. I would like to continue vaulting, so I was wondering if anyone can give me more information about the pole vault scene there.

Are there clubs I could join to train with? Where are potential places to train at? Are there many vaulters in the area? Competitions?

Thanks for any help,
Richard

[sivaulter]

It really depends on where exactly you are moving to and how far you will be willing to drive. Here's a link to all the USATF registered clubs in the Pacific area: http://www.usatf.org/clubs/search/info.asp?associationNumber=38. If you plan to live around my area (San Francisco), I have found that most clubs only do running and indoor vaulting is pretty rare.

[ski-matic]

Thanks for your response and information!

I'm looking at potentially moving somewhere in the Mountain View to San Jose area.

I'm not all that concerned about indoor vaulting, after all, the weather would allow for much more outdoor training than here

How does it generally work there though? Here, typically, anyone can join a club, and the clubs will operate at a university. Sometimes they simply train with the university athletes, and sometimes they keep it separate (depends on the size of the club and school).

I noticed that Stanford has a very nice track with 3 pole vault pitts - but is it restricted to university athletes only?

Thanks for any additional information!

[ski-matic]

I was hoping for some responses.....does this mean that there isn't much pole vault happening in the bay area??

[sivaulter]

sorry for not responding that quickly
I'm not really familiar with the vault scene in San Jose/Mountain View.
To find a convient vault facility you would probably need to call up the high schools or universities around your area, asking about their availability. I have heard of high school athletes training at college facilities, but they always had connections to the coachs.
As far as vaulting in the Bay Area goes, it's not a popular sport. But at least you will be able to get to the Reno Summit in less time.

[Vault Chick]

I know of a few actually...first off is where i live which is in a city called Brentwood which is about an hour east of SF, or it's also about a half an hour from Stockton. We vault twice a week on a wooden runway like the ones they use in Reno. It's at a HS, and my coach is amazing...our practices last between 3-4 hours each time we practice!

Another club is Tri-Valley Athletics which is about 45 minutes from where I'm at in a city called Livermore. I have the contact info for them if you want it. They are also a great club with many members, and they have nights for masters vaulting, and nights dedicated to under 18 vaulting too...

Lastly is a coach I know who is in the Walnut Creek/Danville area who is a really good coach at Las Lomas HS, and I'm sure they vault during summer too. I have the contact info for him too! Also many memebers...

Let me know if you guys need the contact info!!!

[newvaulter]

Hi,
The clubs Vault Chick recommended are good places to start. Stanford does not have any post-collegiate vaulters training there. The other person I can think of is Scott Slover in Los Gatos. I know he coaches a few women and a bunch of college/high school kids.

-newvaulter

[ski-matic]

Thanks for the replies!

I'll definitely follow some of these leads!
Thanks!

[Andy_C]

Hi,
The clubs Vault Chick recommended are good places to start. Stanford does not have any post-collegiate vaulters training there. The other person I can think of is Scott Slover in Los Gatos. I know he coaches a few women and a bunch of college/high school kids.

-newvaulter

Just a quick question, are you talking about the Scott Slover that coaches at Cal? I didn't know he coaches non-collegiate vaulters. Since I don't have a car in the US, I stick to BART when I'm in the Bay Area so San Jose is a bit out of my range. But if he does coaching closer to SF I may try and contact him next time I'm there for an extended duration. I've heard he's had some very good results last year with the collegians he's coaching. Assuming of course that we're talking about the same guy...

[spaseminars]

Andy - Caltrain will get you from San Francisco to San Jose, It's just not terribly fast, and poses the usual public transport dilemma of how to get to your ultimate destination once you get off transit...