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I hope that my question does not disrupt this forum or is inappropriate. Excuse me if that is the case. A friend and co-worker of mine who was an All American Pole Vaulter in the late 90s is interested in coaching track, and I am trying to encourage her. Pole Vault was her best even but she has experience with other events as well. How does one go about looking for such a job? She obviously has strong credentials and references, if that matters.
Thanks for any help you can give. Oh, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Have your friend contact the Athletic Director at her local high school district if that is the level she wants to work at. She could also check with the head coaches at the colleges in the area.

She should have an easy time getting a job at a local high school. I know in my area I get a ton of emails from schools looking for female pole vault coaches.

If she's interested in coaching at the college level, it's not terribly hard to get your foot in the door by volunteering at a small college. It's very hard to get a full-time collegiate coaching gig though. For paid positions you generally need to be able to coach multis and/or jumps as well, few schools will pay a coach to coach one event. Oh yeah and being willing to move anywhere in the country helps.

entheogens wrote: Oh, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Would that be the north Bay area, by any chance?

Vault MD, she lives over around Walnut Creek presently. However, she currently commutes quite a distance (to Palo Alto) so she is used to a long commute. Do you know of something?

entheogens wrote:Vault MD, she lives over around Walnut Creek presently. However, she currently commutes quite a distance (to Palo Alto) so she is used to a long commute. Do you know of something?

No, I just know that Tracy O'Hara (now Majors) just moved from my neighborhood in Roseville to Larkspur.

If your friend lives in Walnut Creek, it shouldn't be hard to find a gig unless she's looking to make a living out of it.

www.ustfccca.org - This is a major post for NCAA track and field jobs. Under the jobs link... very good resource.

www.ncaa.org - go to careers in ncaa, and search for jobs this is any job open in the ncaa... so finding T/F may be more difficult... but

even with volunteer jobs, you will probably still need to give a resume and back ground check with an athletics department... There will probably be more opportunity working with High school kids athletes... meanwhile the requirements to work with those individuals will be higher in terms of red tape...

Working with a college will be easier but the jobs will be fewer...

hope that helps
bel

I am a part-time vault coach who works with high school track programs and athletes from the East Bay, Solano/Napa Counties and up to Sacto. If your friend wants to contact me I can help with names/numbers of track and vault programs she can look into. Also, I work with a gymnastics center in Concord run by a former heptathlete who is developing a vault-gymnastics program for Middle- and High School vaulters in the East Bay that may be of interest.....

Steve Thomas
email: napalaw@gmail.com

Hey Steve,
Welcome aboard!
Wilson

Thanks Doc. My wife finally told me I needed to seek help and join PVA ("Pole vaulters anonymous"). Now repeat after me: "Hello, my name is Steve and I'm a pole vaulter"

See you in Reno at the PVSummit.....

("Recognizing you have a vault problem is the first stage to recovery....")

Haha.

See you in Reno!