Due to Bruce being in town for a meeting/conference in downtown Saint Louis MO we were able to kidnap him and spirit him away to our secret lair in Crystal City Underground to take him on a tour of the facility and invite him to do a meet-n-greet and guest coach during our practice session. We had his undivided attention because cell phones don't work inside a cave.
After meeting everyone Bruce gave a "history lesson" on the histroy of vaulting and pole manufacturing like he was a Professor of Applied Mechanical Engineering and after a few minutes everyone was engaged in asking questions. All in all it was pretty interesting and young vaulters hardly ever get to meet the person who builds the equipment they use. We also got to see a new prototype pole, and I wondered how he was going to get that in the carry-on for the trip back to TX.
After the Q&A the group warmed up and Bruce put on his coaching cap and I think he really enjoyed the interaction with the kids. Our group is comprised of athletes from 13 - 30 and he came up with good advice for all of them. At one point, one of our girls was upset because he wasn't correcting her more and she somehow felt a little left out!
All in all, I think everyone learned something useful to help them jump higher and Bruce is pretty fun to watch as well. When one of our kids would switch poles or handgrips without telling Bruce he immediately zoned in on it and amazed them with his sharp eyesight and attention to detail. Hopefully Bruce had some fun too and he's certainly welcome back anytime. If what I saw yesterday wasn't a great representation of being involved at the "grassroots" level then I don't know what is.
And yes Bruce, I have the photos as proof. I just need to get them resized so I can send them to you. Thanks for coming! Vaultdad
