Byline: Ben Goessling; Staff Writer
When he was shopping for a bigger pole vault pit four years ago, you
might say Belle Plaine pole vault coach Steve Schroeder lucked out.
He probably wouldn't put it that way.
The Tigers needed a new pit because national rule changes required wider and deeper pole vault landing areas.
Those changes were made in 2002 after three pole-vaulting deaths -
including one at the University of Minnesota - occurred in two months,
landing Belle Plaine a new pit when another school was priced out of
the sport and had to sell, rather than upgrade, its equipment.
"We got our pit from a smaller school that decided they weren't going
to do the event anymore," Schroeder said. "We bought the add-ons to
make it legal" - another $2,000 on top of the $2,000 paid for pit in
the first place. But that's still better than the $15,000 a new pit
would have cost
Four years after those deaths, the debate goes on about what precautions are necessary.
And in the south metro, some coaches and athletes still aren't sure where they stand.
"When I started jumping in 1997, the pits were half the size they are
now," said Jamie Steffen, the Apple Valley High School pole-vault
coach, who also works with Flight Deck Athletics, a local pole-vaulting
club. "Now there's more eyes on it. It's like they're waiting for
something to happen."
Safety comes with a price
Burnsville junior Zack Gowdy has tried as hard as he can to learn about pole-vault safety.
He read an article about Kevin Dare, the Penn State pole vaulter who
died at the University of Minnesota in February 2002 and looked into
the new helmet that Dare's father, Ed, helped design.
He
also attended a weeklong summer vault camp with Flight Deck last year
and rented a couple of poles from Flight Deck's Steve White once he
started landing higher vaults last season.
But Gowdy says he is still unclear on where to strike the balance between peace of mind and a positive bank balance.
"It's tough," he said. "If you buy a pole too quick, you'll blow
through it and waste money" as experience and ability increase.
Most schools buy poles and loan them to vaulters, since poles cost
about $350. But since poles vary by height, weight and ability level,
some teams struggle to keep enough on hand.
"A typical high school should have 40 poles," Steffen said. "Most have two or three."
Flight Deck rents poles to schools that cannot afford to buy a full range.
But with new national rules that require coaches to verify before each
meet that a vaulter's pole is correct for his or her height and weight,
renting poles often isn't good enough.
Schroeder said Belle
Plaine rented poles at the end of last season from Robbisndale
Armstrong but estimates the Tigers bought more than a dozen poles in
the past five years.
Helmets, though they are relatively inexpensive, are another area of dispute.
Minnesota is one of six states that require high school vaulters to
wear helmets. Most wear skateboard helmets, but those are not proven to
protect a vaulter in a severe fall. And even though Ed Dare's new
helmet, the KDMax, is touted as the first pole vault-specific helmet on
the market, it did not meet the American Society for Testing and
Materials Standards' specifications.
"For a vaulter to have
total protection, he would need a helmet 3 feet thick," said national
pole vault safety director Jan Johnson. "Nobody wants a heavy helmet."
Coaches look for training
The one thing most south-metro coaches agree on is that proper coaching is the surest safety measure.
What nobody knows is how to get enough training.
For now, the easiest way might be the Pole Vault Safety Certification Board test, a four-part online exam Johnson wrote.
Coaches answer questions on new high school rules, basic safety, pole selection and beginning vaults.
Steffen and New Prague coach Andrew Bernard are the only south-metro coaches certified by the test, however.
And even they say that an online test isn't the ultimate answer.
"You need a coach around all the time," Bernard said. "It's pretty fun
to watch their faces the first time they go into the pit. If they trust
all the little fundamentals, they go after it pretty good."
Ben Goessling - 612-673-7252
SAFETY HAS ITS PRICE There are several ways pole vaulters can be safer
- but they all come with a price. Here is a look at some of the
equipment
HELMETS
The KDMax helmet, touted as
the first pole vault-specific helmet on the market, retails for $99.
Most vaulters, however, use skateboard helmets, which start around $15.
PITS
New national rules require pole vault pits
to be 19 feet, 8 inches wide and 16 feet, 5 inches deep. New pits that
meet those rules can cost between $10,000 and $15,000.
POLES
Because pole specifications vary with height, weight and ability level,
high school vaulters might change poles several times a year. Most
schools rent poles, which start around $350, to vaulters.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Instead of a traditional metal planting box, several colleges have
purchased a "soft box" made of Skydex, a special fabric that conforms
to hold poles but reduces the impact of a fall. The boxes retail for
around $1,500.
