High School Vaulting in the Rain

[RamboRich]

Hi everyone,

I would like to hear your thoughts regarding the safety of pole vaulting in the rain. I am a current high school coach in the Seattle Area and I have some concern. I would like to state up front that I am a vaulter myself. I have jumped in all weather conditions including rain, wind, hail, snow, and even lightning. I am very blessed to have lived and learned through some very poor decisions regarding vaulting in unfit facilities and weather.

First, are there any specific regulations about pole vaulting in the rain (not lightning)? I don't think that there are but I may be wrong. If I am wrong could someone please point me to any written documentation regarding these rules.

Last year we had many meets where I felt the students should not be jumping. When the rain occurred during a regular season 'dual' or 'tri' meet I was able to talk with the other vaulting coaches and head coaches to postpone the competition. Usually not a big deal. Most knowledgeable coaches will not argue regarding safety. However, my concern is for the larger more important meets where pole vault coaches do not have the authority to call or postpone the competition. At county and district qualifying meets the meet director has final say. Usually, in my experience, he/she is not knowledgeable with the vault. The officials want to finish the meet on time and do not want to come back another day. They seem to laugh it off because we are in the northwest and in Seattle we just deal with the rain. I feel that this is a concern, especially when it occurs in big qualifying meets where students will push the limits because they want to go to States.

Most young high school vaulters that I see at meets do not understand how to prepare to jump in the rain. Vaulters and unfortunately some coaches do not understand the need to keep the pole dry, keep fresh dry tape on the pole, wear spikes, use a towel, or even sticky spray.

I feel that there should be some guidelines to address how and when it is appropriate to jump in the rain. Maybe even set rules that students must follow in order to compete in the rain. Also, I think there should be a rule that states if it is raining during a meet, the pole vault coaches (by majority vote) have final say whether or not competition is canceled not the meet director. If the meet is to be resumed on a different day the competition should be started completely over, to be fair to a kid that NHs because of conditions.

Any coach or official that doesn't put the safety of the athlete's first shouldn't be involved in high school sports. I think we all need to look at our policies in these conditions before someone gets hurt. If we are serious about safety, we need to address this situation, not laugh at it!!!!! I think any coach has the authority, responsibility and requirement to pull their athletes out of any unsafe situation whether for weather conditions, facility or equipment concerns, or health of the athlete at anytime without penalty.

Unfortunately, most new rules are not made until someone is hurt or killed. This should not be the case.

I would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading

RamboRich

[Rhino]

Let them vault!!!

My first gold medal was won in a driving rainstorm. I was still a stiff-poler, so it was no problem to grip down and clear 10' (I was about an 11' 6" vaulter at the time). I beat the guy who went on to place second at state that year. I am sure he was not as ashamed to lose in those conditions as I was proud to win. Nobody was hurt, incidentally.

My senior year, after about 7 hours at state meet, three of us were still alive when the clouds opened. We ran under the stadium and I started re-taping my pole for when a break in the rain came. Soon I saw that everybody else was leaving. My last high school track meet and I never got a chance to finish it!!!

People are capable of acting responsibly and adjusting for mud or anything else. You don't expect PR's in the rain, but I would hate to send someone home who wants to slog it out.

[KirkB]

I was actually a fairly good rain-vaulter in HS and I thrived on competing in bad conditions ... but I think you're right Rambo ... SAFETY FIRST!

My vote is for moving the vault indoors (usually not possible for HS meets), rain delays, or postpone to another day. In this order, I think these 3 are better than an outright event cancelation. But for the sake of safety, it's better to cancel than to force the athletes to compete in the pouring rain. But if it's just a drizzle, they should suck it up.

Kirk

[Rhino]

You've got it, Kirk. Use judgement. We don't need the central government to tell whether or not we vault. Meet officials determine if the vault will be held. The athletes determine if they will participate.

[Tumbleweed]

When would we ever jump in the Northwest. I remember a meet in my Freshamn year where it, rained, hailed and snowed. Talk about your extreme vaulting, either way we were cold but had fun. Its not like a lightening storm

[Erica]

If you give vaulters the ability to stay dry, the event becomes safer in the rain. Having a covered area to keep the athletes and poles dry and having dry towels helps a lot. It takes a little more work to set up tents, etc, and vaulters have to put effort into staying out of the rain, but it is very effective.

[RamboRich]

Great Suggestions!! I agree. However, I might second guess whether an athlete knows best regarding the conditions to jump. Winning is usually the only thing on an athlete's mind, safety is usually not top priority. (Especially for 16 to 18 yr old men) I think the key is not whether it is raining, but whether you keep the poles and vaulters dry. Even if it is only a drizzle, if the pole and vaulters are not dry it is still unsafe. Erica, great point regarding the tent. I forgot that one. Here in Seattle when I vault with Rainbow girl, she always has tents setup but unfortunately many high school meets do not. I feel these sorts of things should be common knowledge in the track and field world but they are not.

[rainbowgirl28]

Great Suggestions!! I agree. However, I might second guess whether an athlete knows best regarding the conditions to jump. Winning is usually the only thing on an athlete's mind, safety is usually not top priority. (Especially for 16 to 18 yr old men) I think the key is not whether it is raining, but whether you keep the poles and vaulters dry. Even if it is only a drizzle, if the pole and vaulters are not dry it is still unsafe. Erica, great point regarding the tent. I forgot that one. Here in Seattle when I vault with Rainbow girl, she always has tents setup but unfortunately many high school meets do not. I feel these sorts of things should be common knowledge in the track and field world but they are not.

Buy your own pop tent, you can sometimes find them on sale at Costco. Big Lots probably has them sometimes too.

That reminds me, I will have to see if Ilwaco has their own pop tents. Maybe I will see if I can steal my parents'...

Having a tent for the vaulters makes a HUGE difference in rainy weather. It's tough to keep things dry if you have to keep pulling them in and out of tubes, and just using umbrellas.

[Robert schmitt]

If it is really bad I just have my kids jump from 3-4 lefts and straight pole it. It's an opprotunity to really work on a great take off and swing to take the pressure off the grip so your hand won't slip. It's not the time to go full run and grip and jump for a PR. More times than not they end up winning b/c everyone else NH trying to take full approach vaults.

[formerswimmer]

Hey! Another from the Northwest! We used to vault a lot in the rain, we draped towels over our poles. We started using spikes during the rain rehearsals to stop from slipping after I got another concussion.

[illinois_vaulter]

With all deference to the folks on this string who have had lots of experience vaulting in the rain, I think the notion is absolutely crazy. I did it when I was young and figured I was immortal. I used fresh tape reversed and lighter fluid to act as a solvent for the adhesive; I had partners stand over me at the end of the runway with umbrellas; I kept a dry towel on the pole until I started my approach . . . and I still picked up moisture under my bottom hand so that it was slippery. I managed to keep it from sliding, but I saw a number of other folks who did not. Ever seen somebody leave the ground and lose the grip of the BOTTOM hand? It's not pretty and potentially VERY dangerous, even life-threatening. Sprinters, long jumpers, and triple jumpers all face a heightened risk of injury in the rain-- pole vaulters face the risk of career-ending, even mortal, injury.

If a vaulter decides to abandon technique, drop his grip, and limp over a bar several feet under his best height because of bad weather, what is he/she proving exactly? As I see the situation, it's not a test of the best vaulter; it's just a game of "Chicken."

In my view, the pole vault is the ultimate test of an all-around athlete, but in the end, it's just a competition; it's not worth exposing athletes of any age to undue risk of life and limb. If judges insist on continuing competitions in the rain, they will eventually be responsible for severe injury. I would hate to see the pole vault banned at the high school level-- if we insist on continuing pole vault competitions in weather conditions that threaten the participants, we hasten that decision.

I'm sobered by the death of a vaulter earlier this year at a college where I once held the conference record. I've seen bad falls, and I've taken two myself that should have resulted in severe, even permanent, injury. We need to do everything we can to protect vaulters, even, if need be, from themselves.

Don't jump in the rain.

[drcurran]

Well said - Don't vault in the rain. As an official I will hold up or cancel the event if raining. If over ruled by the field ref. I will decline to officiate. I don't want to see an athlete hurt, and I don't want to try to explain in court why I thought it was a good idea to continue vaulting in the rain. OK my .02

Dan