Colorado Vaulting development!!!

[Jfraser]

I am born and raised in the great state of Colorado and still reside in the Colorado springs area. I have found that sometimes it is hard to be a very avid pole vaulter YEAR ROUND in this state. I am in college now so it is a little easier to find a pit and facilities but not as easy as our west coast.
What i am proposing is potentially started a pole vaulting development CLUB for the Central Colorado area. I feel it is greatly needed and would be used well. Me and my coach are already starting to get ideas/ pitch's to make this happen. I am aware of Pat mansons camp in boulder/ pueblo area in which is a great camp that i have attended. I am in pursuit of a vault club that vault 365 days a year (minus a few). I am posting to ask for ideas? Partners? criticism? I love vaulting and want to make it my life. I want to make it my career. It will be hard but I am going to do something i love for the rest of my life. I am getting a degree in Sports management and minor in personal fitness and nutrition.
I want to get this thing started sooner or later...GOAL...have THE vaulting camp for the midwest america, but i will not be able to do this alone.
PLease post any of your thoughts...ideas...sponsors...partners...jokes...crazy cool comments.

THANK YOU VAULTING COMMUNITY!!

if you would like to talk to me directly about something please feel free to email me at jfraser@uccs.edu. Thanks.

vault on my friends...vault on.

[VaultNinja]

What you are proposing is extremely difficult. You want to vault year round. Obviously you need to be indoors. Finding a facility large enough to fit athletes of elite caliber is tough. If you do find it, you have rent or mortgage which varies greatly, plus healthy utilities that can be upwards of $1,500 to $3,000 a month especially in the winter. Then you have the cost of equipment. Pits, runway, box, poles. Thats an easy $20,000 to $30,000 right there. Its a lot to take on.

If your serious about it. Here are some ways to try and cut corners. Don't try to make the biggest fanciest facility in the US and then wind up losing it all or never making it happen. Start small, build up clients and possible investors. Then you can think about nicer pits, more poles, better location, ect.

Here's what you do
1. Find a pit
Colleges and highschools are always replacing there old pits. Find an old one, spend a few hundred bucks on new material and foam if necessary. Make it safe not pretty.
2. Find a building.
Get in close with a Gymnastics gym, indoor soccer/lacrosse/hockey or even skate park. Figure out some kind of common ground on rent, then go for it.
3. Runway
Try to sink a box if you can, tell them that they can always just fill the hole in if it doesn't work out. This is the cheapest way. Otherwise your looking at building or buying a raised runway. This is more than likely the case. People generally don't want holes in there floor. Even the cheapest ways to build those aren't cheap. Try and find someone who works at a lumber place and work a deal with them.
4. Poles
Go to highschools, colleges, polevaultpower, craiglist, ebay and get some random cheap poles. You can also become an exclusive dealer for one of the main companies and that can be another source of income for your club, and you will have access to much cheaper poles. Another way is take a college or highschool coaching position, then you have access to there poles. In the off season you keep them in your building, during the season you transfer them back and forth. This tends to be more realistic.
5. Clients
easy ways to get the word out are Fliers to every area highschool, I'm talking at least a thousand fliers. Make a flier with dates, times, location, and make it appealing. Send them out to Highschool AD's and they will get the word out for you. Facebook, start a page for your club and constantly update it. PV Power, make sure to get it on there and keep having events that update it as well. A website is always good as well, but an unnecessary start up cost now that social networks make it so easy. You have to have programs for all ages, or you won't make enough money to stay afloat. Investors always come and go, most never stick around for more than 4 years.

Good luck. PM me for more questions, i've been part of several of these in different states, and have a pretty good knowledge of how to keep them afloat.

[AVC Coach]

That's some good advice from VaultNinja. We're about to begin our 12th year in business as a club and I have a little advice to add. I would really emphasize the starting slow part and building a clientel base. That base turns over about every 4-5 years so you have to put out a successful product to have any hopes of increasing your numbers and credibility. Build relationships with your athletes and their families, make friends with everyone you can and don't burn any bridges along the way. Good luck!

[Jfraser]

Thanks guys that is good advice. I think that holds true to any business you plan on starting that its not just gonna boom in a year you gotta meet the right people build your base clients and keep em and build off of that. Were gonna start slow with just a summer camp at our university and put a pit in down at our stadium. Were gonna start advertising in the next couple weeks to hopefully get a good show up this summer.
Thanks again for your advice

[turkvaulterj]

We practice at this club its inside of and old warehouse plenty of space for 2 or more pits plus training equipment, it isn't pretty but it works

[Jfraser]

We practice at this club its inside of and old warehouse plenty of space for 2 or more pits plus training equipment, it isn't pretty but it works

Do you guys lease it out? if so how much? where you located

[turkvaulterj]

i don't if we own it or what, but its in Central Illinois Flying Dragons Pole Vault Club