15 yr. old girl w/ potential-now what?

[rainbowgirl28]

And while I'm on it... anyone have any words of wisdom for developing that social network for our younger vaulters?

Have lots of kids try the event. You may end up with some less talented kids who enjoy it and stick with it, but they may have a friend that is more talented and turns out. You are right about girls often wanting to do it because their friends are.

Give them as much information as possible about camps/summer meets/beach vaults in your area. Generally, the more they get out and meet other vaulters, the more they'll have fun. Now with Facebook and Myspace, it's easy for them to keep in touch with these people, which keeps vaulting on their mind.

[Barefoot]

Kmonty...

Just so you know... I'm not trying to sidetrack from what you need for your girl. My point is, find her an expanded group of vaulters that she relates to and is social with. Very rarely do good vaulters seem to appear in isolation, they tend to arrive in bunches. The vault is harder in isolation, imho.

I concur with everything Becca suggested. I actively encourage my vaulters to recruit more kids and encourage them to be sociable with their competition. Maybe what's next for your girl is a larger social pole vault network.

[kmonty51]

Yeah, I think I do have some ideas for social networking. When I was coaching cross country, we had pasta feeds the evening before a meet. They were hugely successful. A lot of kids got to know and like each other there. It carried over to meets and workouts. We were known as a large and tightly knit group. The winning followed close behind. Our team motto became, "If we have team spirit and team unity, the wins and losses will take care of themselves." It proved true.

For pole vaulters, I'm not sure pasta feeds would be the thing, but maybe bring a grill to workouts. A few hamburgers, hotdogs, and brats (a type of sausage few people outside of Wisconsin know about), some ice cream and music, and I think the social networking just might begin. They bring friends, some who become interested in pole vaulting...you see where I'm going. Good thought. I'm mad at myself that I didn't think of it long ago! Or...maybe it's the secret spices in the brats that produces winning teams....

[Barefoot]

Exactly so...

Most coaches understand the team concept, but seem to make an exemption where vaulters are concerned... I think this is a huge mistake. Where the vault community is strong, like say Texas, the vaulters excel. The concentration of good vaulters may in part be due to the larger network which shares knowledge and enthusiasm for the event. In some places the young vaulter can reach out to those who have already travelled the road, or who have the traditions. For others, they will have to blaze the trail. In either case, making the experience more communal will help... especially for girls, I think. I defer to the women and experienced coaches.

My own high school coach was a throws guy with limited knowledge of the vault... he developed some great track teams... with the vault he made a point of steering a few like minded "good athletes" per year to the event. He invited other vaulters to practice at our school. The result was very few state meets in which a vaulter (or two) from our school were not at the state meet during his 12 year tenure as head coach.

Brats huh? I like the Vaul-T-Q idea... Burgers on the front buns.