Quest For Safety Led VerSteeg To Guide Vaulters (CT)

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Quest For Safety Led VerSteeg To Guide Vaulters (CT)

Unread postby rainbowgirl28 » Thu Feb 01, 2007 5:24 pm

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-hsfeat ... 7832.story

State Bar Association
Quest For Safety Led Coach To Guide Vaulters
February 1, 2007
By REID L. WALMARK, Courant Staff Writer

Russ VerSteeg studied an East Hartford pole vaulter who was struggling at the Middletown Invitational two years ago, failing to clear any height. Disregarding his policy not to offer unsolicited advice, VerSteeg, an Norwich Free Academy assistant coach, approached P.J. La Clair.

La Clair was open to suggestion. Try adjusting the grip by a foot-and-a-half, VerSteeg told him.

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Later that month, La Clair sought out VerSteeg at the Class LL meet. La Clair, who had improved thanks to VerSteeg's tip, defeated NFA's Matt Bishop for first place by reaching the winning height in fewer attempts.

Bishop, who won the LL title the next year, wasn't pleased. This was his coach helping an opponent. But he would later grasp why the vintage VerSteeg surfaced.

"I didn't think it was the right thing to do then," said Bishop, who now assists NFA vaulters. "I think he wants to help everybody. He's a real nice guy when it comes to that."

VerSteeg, 49, has lost count, but he has counseled dozens of aspiring vaulters since rededicating himself to the sport in 2002 after learning of three teenage pole vaulting deaths. He won't turn anyone away.

VerSteeg is Connecticut's high school pole vaulting guru.

He started a vaulting club two years ago, initially setting up in his back yard in Norwich. He has published articles on the event, mostly on safety. He is co-writing a book on its history, along with 1972 Olympic bronze medalist Jan Johnson. He attended the National Pole Vault Summit two weekends ago in Reno, Nev. The pole-vaulting "Disney World", as he calls it, is a three-day, thousands-strong festival of meetings, clinics and vaulting.

VerSteeg's work over the years in the event has left its mark. A member of USA Track & Field, he is instrumental in steering the course for the event's future as an adviser for the Pole Vault Safety Certification Board.

"I don't eat, breathe and sleep pole vault, not completely, but darn near close," VerSteeg said from his offices at the New England School of Law in Boston, where he teaches contracts, trademarks, unfair competition and copyright and sports law.

VerSteeg's commitment comes from his four layers of personal involvement. He teaches sports law. He has done equipment-related work with the American Society for Testing and Materials. He coaches. He vaults sporadically in masters meets.

"I'm not stuck in an ivy tower, pontificating. I'm involved every day," said VerSteeg, a North Carolina native who went to the University of North Carolina and got his law degree at UConn.

Johnson conducts vaulting camps across the country and shares VerSteeg's passion for the sport.

"He's one of the top guys around, no question, one of the top coaches out there," said Johnson. "I don't base how good a coach is on how high his guys go. He's knowledgeable. We need people who understand the legal aspects of it and the technical aspects. There are just a few."

Since VerSteeg arrived on the national scene, he has played a role in increasing the size of landing pits. He has become part of the debate on mandatory helmet use. He wrote an article saying they can prevent but also cause injuries.

Many high school organizations are stressing certification of vaulting instruction for coaches because few have experience in the technical event.

VerSteeg's interest in pole vaulting - sidetracked for 15 years while he went from practicing to teaching law - was revived by the 2002 fatalities. By the spring of 2003, after Johnson had recruited him in the winter, VerSteeg was assisting at NFA.

Pole vaulters don't just work with VerSteeg and improve. They set school and state records.

Last year, VerSteeg worked with East Lyme's Jordan Thull, after being convinced by East Lyme coach Carl Reichard to be an assistant coach for just that indoor season. In 2006, Thull set the unofficial New England record indoors and the official state and New England records outdoors.

"He taught me the basics techniques to vault at a high level," Thull said from Northeastern University last week. "My college coaches have changed some things. But my plant and swing, I still follow what he taught me."

NFA senior Jessica Sullivan left gymnastics to concentrate on vaulting and to work more closely with VerSteeg. Sullivan has set the girls state record - now 11 feet - three times this indoor season.

In September, owners of ABC's Gymnastics Stars in Niantic gave VerSteeg time and space to use their facility as the center for his club, which draws dozens from the state, including Pat Wasczsak of Bacon Academy-Colchester, the boys state leader this season (13-6).

Sullivan said there's no way she'd set records without him. "He's the most helpful guy you'd ever meet. He always goes above and beyond to help. He's very calm. He has the experience of having been a pole vaulter [he's cleared 14 feet] and now he's a coach. If you have a bad day, he understands that.It's a very technical sport and I've learned so much from him."

Contact Reid Walmark at rwalmark@courant.com

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