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I've been assistant coaching pv at the high school I graduated from last year and at a competition the other week I noticed something funny. The official didn't know the actual rules....either that or the book he was looking up the rules in was outdated.

Now I admit I don't know all the rules under the sun here for pv, but I do know a couple. One thing while at the meet was that a coach from another school during the girl’s warm-ups was giving his athletes a push when jumping into the box. When he was doing this the girls didn't really get in any b/c they looked new to pv and I think they were holding too high on the pole. I approached the official at the pv pit about this and he said that's it's fine to do during warm-ups, but not during competition but that he would look it up. He claimed he did, and said that the rule was that the coach couldn't do it during competition but during warm up was ok.

Now I know that it's illegal to push the vaulter at meets since not only did I look it up my self at the meet, but I had seen the rule before the meet and this past winter during indoor our head pv coach got warned for doing it because he hadn't worked on pv in a while and wasn't aware of the rule change.

Another thing that happened was during the girls again there was a vaulter that held at the very end of the pole. Not at the top handgrip tape, but the actual end of the pole. I wasn't even looking for this one, all I did was watch the girl once and saw it, so I watched her at the next height to make sure I wasn’t mistaken and sure enough she was holding there again. But to make certain before I told the official because he wasn't doing anything about it I had an athlete watch her and he said that he saw the same thing.

I then approached the official about this and asked him if you’re allowed to hold at the very end he said "no, why?" So I told him to watch the one girl which he said he would, but she went on to clear two or three more heights in the meet, and I think took second place.

Now I'm all for pushing the rules, but in these cases it was a real safety hazards, or at least I thought so. I was just wondering what you guy's opinion is on this one? Am I just not up to speed on the rules? or is the official? Should I do anything about this now? Or just next time I see the official have a rule book in hand?

Did this happen in NY (which I infer from your author location)?

If so, you can contact the officials chapter that services your section which from a overlay map I have appears to be section 5 (Genesee Valley) and state your issue. You could also contact the state rules interpretor who provides guidence to all officials in various sections

I know for a fact at all sections in NY have yearly clinics, have several meetings prior to each indoor/outdoor season and receive new rule and case books every year. They also take an NF Part II exam. They should not even show up at a meet without them.

"Taping" by a coach was made illegal in 2003 and has been in the NF books every year since then. Every coach should have attended a section conducted rules meeting every year to have all changes spelled out and clarified.
There is no reason or excuse that the official nor the coach could offer that would make me think they did not know this rule.

Holding above the pole manufacturers hand hold limit has been around at least 10 or more years. I'm guessing the official is not watching for this and should be, It's part of his job when running the event. If any coach is teaching this, he should be removed from his job as a PV coach.

I'd recommend you take an on-line PV certifcation course if you really want to properly assist in coaching the event. Learn the rules cold as well.

This really needs to be brought to the attention of the local officials chapter as soon as you can!

Thanks for the clarification. You were correct in your assumptions, it did occur in NYS Section V, most specifically at the Fairport Invitational a week or so ago.

I have taken the PV Coaching Cert that M-F has, its a free one, and I had read through the rules for it and that's how I knew about this stuff. I just am not 100% sure about all rules that are out there for pv.

I will try and get any info that my coach has on contacting the local officials chapter tomorrow so that this can be reported.

Once again thanks a ton.

At the National Pole Vault Coaches Association website you can look at the following articles in the rules:
Section 2, Art. 10
Section 5, Art. 28 i)

- master

Isinbayeva held at the end of the pole. We had a triple jumper get DQ'd after placing, because he wore tights and his teammate didn't. You have the right to demand enforcement of the rules, but I would hate to win by disqualifying a superior performer.

Vaultref wrote:Holding above the pole manufacturers hand hold limit has been around at least 10 or more years. I'm guessing the official is not watching for this and should be, It's part of his job when running the event. If any coach is teaching this, he should be removed from his job as a PV coach.

A high school coach should not teach this since it is against the rules, but there is nothing inherently wrong with holding at the top of most poles, provided it is the right grip height for the athlete, and they are not overbending the pole.

ESSX places their weight labels right at the top of the pole, and Gill Athletics is going to be phasing in new weight labels which will also allow athletes to grip 1.5" from the top.

Rhino wrote:Isinbayeva held at the end of the pole. We had a triple jumper get DQ'd after placing, because he wore tights and his teammate didn't. You have the right to demand enforcement of the rules, but I would hate to win by disqualifying a superior performer.

I hate it when a uniform rule gets enforced by someone who does not have the authority to do so. The rule books clearly outline who has that responsibility and authority; and the time to make that judgement, at least in high school, is BEFORE the competition. If an athlete is found to be out of compliance at the time the judgement is to be made, which is before the competition, he/she is supposed to get a warning and a chance to fix it. If he/she doesn't get a warning, that should be intrepreted as the uniform being legal (enough). If someone squawks after the compeitition is over, then it is someone who by definition does not have the authority to make the call.

Garbage like what Rhino is referring to is the reason why I stay away from high school meets as far as possible.