Who needs a pole vault coach?

[EIUvltr]

Currently I'm coaching at a school in the south suburbs that will remain nameless. I hate it for more reasons that I can list, however I would like to coach pole vault somewhere. But I would need these things...

1. 100% control over my pole vaulters. I want this to be like college. They show up and report to me and do whatever I say. If I don't like them or I dont think they are potential state qualifiers in the vault, then they're gone.

2. Money. I need poles. Having to beg an AD to buy a single pole when the school next to us bought 50 this year is embarassing.

3. Motivated kids who come to practice everyday. The school I'm at has problems with kids bringing guns to parties, drugs, crime, and half of my athletes can't come to practice cuz they have to raise their nieces and nephews (I realize this isn't their fault but I can't coach them if they aren't there).

4. A school where the track team doesn't have to share the facility with 635 other sports from 3-6 everyday. A track should be a track. And Badminton shouldn't be a high school sport, those girls would be better off getting liposuction after school.

[VaultPurple]

HaHa! Good luck with that! Either start your own club or coach at a college.

[rainbowgirl28]

I used to coach at my alma mater, a nice private school with nice kids... most of them came to practice most of the time during the season, but I couldn't get ANY of them to show up in the summer, and I was there almost every day running a club and hosting meets. So even a nicer school is no guarantee you'll get dedicated kids.

[altius]

"If I don't like them or I dont think they are potential state qualifiers in the vault, then they're gone.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you really mean to say that? Well given your other comment "And Badminton shouldn't be a high school sport, those girls would be better off getting liposuction after school" I suppose you did. With an attitude like that I suggest you reconsider your desire to coach - anything - anywhere. It seems to me that you are in the wrong business. You should try selling used cars - it doesnt matter whether you like the customers or not, whether they are good drivers or even if they are a bit overweight.

[EIUvltr]

"If I don't like them or I dont think they are potential state qualifiers in the vault, then they're gone.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you really mean to say that? Well given your other comment "And Badminton shouldn't be a high school sport, those girls would be better off getting liposuction after school" I suppose you did. With an attitude like that I suggest you reconsider your desire to coach - anything - anywhere. It seems to me that you are in the wrong business. You should try selling used cars - it doesnt matter whether you like the customers or not, whether they are good drivers or even if they are a bit overweight.

Perhaps you are under the impression that these Badminton girls are very serious about the sport of badminton. Unfortunately they view it as a social gathering, weigh upwards of 300 lbs., and they hinder the athletes in the field house who are actually concerned about their sports. They take up the ENTIRE infield so we basically can't vault for 6 weeks except for meets. We can't do pole runs either because there are 150 kids using our tiny track in both directions.

And as far as my quote "If I don't like them or I dont think they are potential state qualifiers in the vault, then they're gone." Isn't this how every other sport operates? They take the best players/athletes and cut the rest? At my high school about 100 kids try out for basketball and they take about ten. What makes track different? The soviets trained their athletes according to the principle of "find the athletes who fit the program" not "find the program to fit the athlete." Basically if you couldn't deal with the rigors of the initial training programs in the lower levels of sports mastery then they would just send you home. Seemed to work pretty good for the USSR considering they dominated the olympics for 30 years. I care about finding the best athletes to score me points in the meets that matter. Isn't that what sports is about? Winning?

[EIUvltr]

Plus state qualifying is 13-9. That's not too hard to be honest, I don't think I would be cutting too many people based on athleticism. Most of the cuts would be due to work ethic.

[pv161]

I have been coaching high school vaulters for 21 years and I have never cut anyone because I didn't like them or didn't think they were going to be state qualifiers. I coach because I love the event. If your qualified I suggest you try moving up to the college level because the odds of getting everything your looking for on a high school team are pretty slim.

[EIUvltr]

I have been coaching high school vaulters for 21 years and I have never cut anyone because I didn't like them or didn't think they were going to be state qualifiers. I coach because I love the event. If your qualified I suggest you try moving up to the college level because the odds of getting everything your looking for on a high school team are pretty slim.

Again, this isn't your typical middle america high school. I'm not saying I don't like these kids because our personalities clash. I'm saying I don't like these kids because we have kids on drugs, kids who ditch practice every other day, one of our guys punched a 98 lbs. girl a few days ago at a meet, kids with criminal records, guys who make out with their girlfriends during meets, etc.

What I want in an athlete is someone who is as obsessed with pole vaulting as I am. Someone who would join this forum. Someone who will spend countless hours studying the vault like I did when I was in high school and college. If they aren't going to jump 6.40m, that's fine. I'd rather have someone who works their a** off to jump 14' than someone who could jump 16' in jeans but could care less.

[altius]

"I care about finding the best athletes to score me points in the meets that matter. Isn't that what sports is about? Winning?" You have confirmed that you re definitely in the wrong business. For the vast majority of coaches, sport provides an opportunity to change peoples lives for the better - striving to win is far more important winning because it is the process that is important not the product. I suggest you take a look at the Olympic Creed and at Teddy Roosevelt's words on the subject of competition. I would also suggest that if you -and your athletes are focussed on winning instead of focussing on how you can best prepare yourselves to win you are not going to be successful coach. Finally i would suggest that if you see your athletes as merely vehicles to build your ego then again you are in the wrong business. I just feel sorry for the kids in your school. But I know I am wasting my words here - you are not going take advice from anyone. You are just going to plow ahead in complete ignorance of what sport is about.

[rainbowgirl28]

Start a club, you'll greatly increase your odds of finding dedicated kids.

[VaultPurple]

Yeah the whole attitude about cutting people that cant qualify has got to go. When will you make this choice? Their freshman year? That is ridiculous. You can't tell how good of a pole vaulter someone could be by how athletic they are their freshman year. Its would be different if pole vaulting was a sport you should know when you get to high school, but its not. You start your freshman year, if your not some super human you suck like all beginners, but you get better.

You said its 13'9 to qualify for states. I jump over 13'9 and if you would have saw me before my junior year you would have laughed at me just like my coaches did for trying to be a pole vaulter. I started high school at 5'2 115 pounds. Didn't actually try to vault till my sophomore year where I was 5'5 120ish pounds and might break 14 in the 100 with hurricane force winds behind me. It took me two weeks before I could jump 6 foot! After one season I had jumped 9' in practice and 8'6 in a meet. Every one of my coaches told me I would never make it as a good pole vaulter and I should be running long distance or something. My Junior year I gained about 15 pounds of muscle (still 5'5), and ended up jumping 13' that year. Senior year jumped 13'6, and now in college vaulting even higher.

But never turn a kid away for lack of athletic ability if they want to pole vault, there is nothing wrong with having 11' to 13' guys on your team, or even the 8 footers if they are trying.

Anyone can take a really good athlete and turn them into a good pole vaulter, but the best coaches are the ones that can make the least athletic kids jump high!

I love going to meets and watching the 5'10 140 pound lankey kid that looks like he could barely walk without tripping over something, and looks like they should be behind a computer, end up surprising the crap out of me and jumping 14' or higher. Thats when you realize, that kid must have one pretty good coach!

[Tincup1215]

I can see you are a little frustrated already in the season. I've been in your situation where I had no support from the AD, other coaches, No space to practice, no budget, maybe 3-4 poles total. After 3 years at that school and ESTABLISHING myself with the kids and community I ended up having a lot of support and was able to double our pole inventory and ended up with an All-stater and a Qualifier. I'm now back at my Alma-mater in an ideal situation since we already have a very strong PV tradition.

1. Relax and be positive. You're really thinking about cutting kids? Big no-no, the best way to build up your program is for kids to say positive things about it. That's how you get the athletes out. You should have the mindset of being just excited for the kid who PRs and goes 8'6" as you would be for your stud who goes 15'.

2. I've worked around the space thing. I was lucky enough to have kids who were excited about PV and had no problem practicing from 7-9 a.m. on saturday mornings since that was the only time we could get into the gym. Be flexible. I'm just out of college to and the last thing I want to do is be up at 6:30 driving to school on a saturday morning, but I think it's even harder for a high school kid to want do that let alone my entire PV squad. I give them a ton of credit and I've made it clear that whatever time they want to jump, I will be there. Kids feed off your enthusiasm and dedication.

3. Treat every athlete equal regardless of skill level. My friend was a 9'6 vaulter as a freshmen turning over the wrong direction and taking off the ground with 2 feet. By the time he graduated he was a 15'6 All-Stater.