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hey guys. i used to be a pole vaulter in high school (about 1 year ago, i'm going into my sophmore year of college) and was pretty good. i really wanted/want to jump in college but unfortunately the college i go to is insanely good in the pole vault.
i jumped 13'6" consitantly in high school and went to states. the school i go to you have to be able to jump 15' to walk on to the team.
one of my friends who i competed against in states (he won) came in jumping 16'6" as a freshman

i chose this school over my other choice because my other primary choice didn't have a mens track team (title IX stuff) not realizing how good this schools pole vaulters are.
i talked to the coach before i went to the school and i've talked to him briefly since i've been here (on the phone) and had my friend who's pole vaulting for the school talk to him. my friend recommended talking to him again face to face which i haven't done yet.

anyways i really want to jump again because i miss it a lot and i've been told by a lot of people, including some of the people at bell athletics, that i had good technique and i should stick with it cause i had the potential to be really good.

unfortunately this coach only seems to look at height as a judgement of how good you are, but i have yet to talk to him face to face.

so here's my question. Should i attempt to convince the coach to let me join, or at least try out for the team. and if so what would be the best way to go about doing that.

the way i see it my options are,
1) i try to convince the coach to let me join or at least train until i'm good enough to join (i can get my friend on the team and potentially former coaches and the maybe some of the guys from bell athletics, if i'm lucky, to give me recommendations)
2) i can transfer to a different school and train with/compete on their team until im good enough to transfer back, or just stay at the new school. (i really don't want to do this one but i will if it comes down to it)
3) i can search for a place near my school that will let me train, will probably have to pay for it, until i'm good enough to make my schools team.

i think i can make 15' by the end Spring semester if i train hard, all i really need is more speed/strength and to brush up on my technique since i haven't jumped in awhile.

the main problem i would have is finding a place that has poles i can use, im a small guy. 5'8" 135lbs but i use pretty decent sized poles.
i was jumping 13'6" with a 160lb pole 13' long. not sure if my current college has poles my size but i'm pretty sure they do.

so when i talk to the coach what do you recommend i say, do you think i should try to reason with him. which option do you think is best (obviously training with the team comes first but if not should i transfer and compete or find somewhere nearby and train). any other ideas you guys can think of that will help me would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

As you weigh your options, know that colleges almost never add people to the team in the middle of the year.

I am guessing based on what you've said that you are neither particularly tall nor fast (most the girls at your school use bigger poles than you). You're going to have a tough time convincing them to let you walk on (though you should certainly talk to the coach in person and explore that option).

If you want to vault in college, transfer somewhere you can do it. Transfer spring semester so you can compete this year.

I was in your exact situation and that was what I had to do. I loved the school I was at (possibly the same one you are at now?) but I was never going to be able to vault there and after 2 years I realized I loved vaulting more. So I transferred. Twice. Don't transfer to a school in the same conference, I learned that one the hard way!

im currently going to USF, Big East conference. and i've gotten stronger and faster than i was in high school, and i've started doing crossfit (very good workout program) and its been helping a lot.
when i get back into it i think i'll be using poles bigger than i was in high school fairly soon. i've gained some weight too (about 10 lbs). i just need to start jumping again and get used to the change in speed/strength.

good to know i'm not the only person who has had this problem.

my goal is to be able to make a team, any team, by fall of next year.
i would prefer D1 though.

what do you think the chances of finding a place to jump at least 1-2 times a week around me are though.

I think there is a coach in Tampa that does club stuff, at least there was when I was in Florida 7 years ago (not much help, I know). You should ask around.

When I was at UF I jumped with Bobby Haeck in Clermont, but he has since moved.

ya, i think bobby coaches at st thomas high school in florida now. at least he was when i graduated HS last year. he's a pretty good coach but charges a little to much for his camps imo. i'd rather spend the $400 on goin to bell's for 4 days than a weekend at his camp.
he did have an extremely talented (and big) team when i graduated though.

The coach at USF is a really good guy....I also coach in the Big East conference and USF has some serious talent.....but bigger than that.....15' will not generally score you points in the Big East. In fact, you have to jump 14' 9" to qualify to go to the conference meet.

I doubt with your current PR you will even get a chance to jump at USF....especially since USF has a decent guys squad already.

Good luck though!!!

ya, from what i've heard he's a pretty good coach.
after thinkin about it all day what i think i'm gonna do is talk to him and see if i can train with them (probably won't be able to) but i'm gonna try to get that chance. if i can't then i'll try and find a place to train nearby where i can jump and work my a** off to get AT LEAST 15' by the end of spring semester. i had pretty good technique it was just a matter of speed so i think i can do it cause i've gotten faster.
if i think i'll be able to jump at least 15' by the end of spring semester i'll stay and walk on my junior year, if not i'll just transfer to somewhere i will be able to jump.

i do believe that a couple guys either graduated or are graduating so i may hopefully have a chance.

and i'm aware the qualifying height is 14'9" for the big east, thats one reason the coach told me why he doesn't really look at anyone jumping under 15'

what do ya'll think?

btw i just checked USF's roster and they only have 2 vaulters on it now so i think some people graduated.
out of the 2 one is a senior, the other is a sophomore and the one i competed against in states.

think this might boost my chances?

It is worth a shot. Just training with them would be a great thing for you. It won't cost the team anything if you just come and jump.

VaultMarq26 wrote:It is worth a shot. Just training with them would be a great thing for you. It won't cost the team anything if you just come and jump.

Yes it does, he would almost certainly have to be officially on the team to practice with the team, and thanks to Title IX, it can be hard for coaches to justify having walk-ons that are far below the level of everyone else.

i wore my Bell Athletics shirt to the gym a couple days ago and wound up meeting one of the vaulters on the USF team. I talked to him for a bit and its looking like i have a pretty good chance of at least training and jumping with the team, not competing, until i am able to jump 15' get a scholarship and compete for the team.
He told me to just keep hitting the gym until mid October (i don't think USF has winter track season for guys) then go talk to the coach and i would probably be able to start jumping and training with the team. Everything up until October is just working out and base work, they don't start technique or anything until about mid October.

Anyways I'm gonna follow his advice and keep working out to get my strength and speed up until October and then go talk to the coach so wish me luck