{"id":6342,"date":"2023-05-15T08:19:53","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T12:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=6342"},"modified":"2023-06-11T11:43:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T15:43:39","slug":"busy-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2023\/05\/15\/busy-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Busy Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is a \u201cSunday Story\u201d, even though it\u2019s Monday.  No politics here, just stories about one of my favorite topics \u2013 Pole Vault.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track Official<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a high school track and field official, this is the busy season.  It\u2019s \u201cchampionship season\u201d as I told my teams for forty years:  the moments when all the work, the training, the sacrifice and the competitions come to a peak.  It\u2019s the conference championship, then onto the two meets that lead the elite few to the State Championship.  As a coach it could be (as Dicken\u2019s said) the best of times and the worst of times.  In championship season the successes are the sweetest, and the failure are the hardest.  Either way, it\u2019s all over in a few short weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a track coach, I taught every event.  I worked with sprints, hurdles and relays; distance, long and high jump; shot and discus, and, of course, pole vault.  It was in that last event that I made a \u201cprofessional\u201d reputation, working to make the event safer.  I still teach coaches how to coach pole vault safely, something I\u2019ve done for thirty years here in Ohio (Ohio Pole Vault Safety<\/a>).  And while I was a \u201clicensed\u201d official for most of my career, I didn\u2019t start \u201cfull time\u201d officiating until 2019, two years after I retired from coaching.  In the last five years, I\u2019ve scheduled more track meets (forty-three this year).  Championship season is my \u201cbusy season\u201d too:  five meets last week, five meets this week, four meets the week after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, I officiate the pole vault in most of those meets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

X Games<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Back in the 1990\u2019s, one of my vaulters said to me: \u201cPole vault should be separate from the rest of track and field.  They just put it in there, because there aren\u2019t high school \u2018X Games\u2019!\u201d  There is a whole different feel around the pole vault from the much of the rest of track competitions.  It\u2019s a small enough \u201cecosphere\u201d that most vaulters from different teams still know each other.  Coaches often share the expensive poles (more than $500 per) with other schools. Many of the better vaulters train together outside of the regular track season.  The competition in pole vaulting is more often \u201cwith the bar\u201d than with each other, and it\u2019s not unusual to see fierce competitors cheering each other on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was an \u201cold school\u201d pole vault coach, really two generations from the current crop of \u201cmodern\u201d coaches (in technical terms \u2013 more Tarasov than Mondo).  But my decades of coaching help me to better officiate competition.  It\u2019s not just knowing the rules, the nuances of \u201cmakes and misses\u201d.   It\u2019s also managing the \u201cflow\u201d, keeping the competition rolling along, giving each athlete a fair shot at the bar, and creating the best atmosphere for the final vaulters as they attempt to soar higher than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Altius<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Saturday was a good example.  The small, six-man conference championship competition was radically divided.   The lower three vaulters were young, first or second year competitors.  We started the bar at 8\u2019, and when one cleared 10\u2019, his teammates ran over and cheered his personal best.  He was \u201cpumped\u201d, and while he failed at 10\u20196\u201d,  he was still proud of his progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we \u201cskipped\u201d to three of the best vaulters in the state, all seniors and from the same school. They entered the competition at 13\u2019.  At 14\u2019 they all soared over the bar, including the \u201cthird man\u201d.  In most competitions, only two are allowed from each school, including the state qualifying meets. This particular conference decided to test a track team\u2019s depth by allowing three in every event.  And this \u201cthird man\u201d is one of the top vaulters in the state, but won\u2019t get to prove his prowess on the biggest stage.  He can\u2019t beat his own teammates, and while he might be in the top dozen in Ohio, since he is only third at his own school, this was his last high school meet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He ultimately cleared 14\u20196\u201d.  When he failed at his third attempt at 15\u2019, there were tears in his coach\u2019s eyes, and warm hugs from teammates and friends.  He\u2019ll go onto vault in college.  But these were the bittersweet last attempts of his high school career; at home, with friends, family and teammates watching.  He was third in the Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Battle at the Heights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Then the two best vaulters in the state continued, battling each other in a good hearted competition for the Conference Championship.  They tied for first at 15-6, then \u201cjumped off\u201d in a tie-breaking procedure.  When neither cleared 16\u2019, we moved the bar down to the conference record 15\u20199\u201d.  One cleared, one didn\u2019t; and the champion was determined.  The winner was pleased.  The runner-up  concentrated on video of his vaults. What could he improve for the next competition, as he works to hone-in his skills for his final high school meets?  Three weeks and two competitions left until the state finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This season, I\u2019ve had the privilege of officiating these young men in vault at six competitions.  They are always polite and welcoming; their enthusiasm and dedication \u201cspills out\u201d onto the runway.  As an official I am a \u201cneutral observer\u201d, but as a former coach, it\u2019s still fun to have just a little part in what they and their coach are accomplishing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I won\u2019t officiate these guys again. I\u2019m at different state qualifying meets from their school in the next weeks. And I\u2019m privileged to be on the women\u2019s pole vault crew at the State meet<\/a>, just as competitive and intense as the men.  But be assured, I\u2019ll have a \u201cpit-side\u201d seat for their efforts come that first Saturday in June.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday Story Series<\/h4>\n\n\n\n