Here is the followup article regarding banning the pole vault in Indiana High Schools. I have to give the guy credit. At least he printed some of our responses. Dear, Joe, Ray, Chuck, Mike, and Bruce, This is the column as I submitted it to my editor earlier today. I apologize for having to shorten your letters. I suspect that my editor will shorten further and even toss out one or two altogether. Thank you again for writing. I hope you keep reading. Please don't ever hesitate to contact me with a comment or an idea. JJD
Toss By John Doherty Times Sports Correspondent READERS: TIME TO TOSS DOHERTY When last week's column (Time to Toss the Pole Vault, The Times, March 18, 2002) first appeared in this space five years ago, I heard nary a whimper. Retired Griffith track coach Lee Bollhorst, my interview subject at the time, was contacted by a number of his colleagues, a few negatively but the majority in a positive way. What a difference a half decade -- and near universal web access -- makes. While I received kudos in person and on the phone from coaches, administrators, and parents, all of the emailers were unhappy. Here's a sampling edited for brevity and clarity. Dear John Doherty: I have to say that eliminating pole vaulting is certainly not the answer. That is just the knee jerk reaction that is seen too frequently these days. Yeah, pole vault is a dangerous event, but so is walking down the stairs. Do we ban that? Of course not. However, bad things happen. Does that mean one should avoid anything and everything that has even the slightest chance of going wrong? In my humble opinion, no. To me, that's just not living. I ran cross country and track at Valparaiso High School, and then at Yale University. I've met a lot of pole vaulters. Injuries happen, and sometimes death. Running is one of the greatest things in my life. I have a feeling a lot of pole vaulters would say same thing about their event. Is it a tragedy that some athletes die while competing? Absolutely. But eliminating the event would be an even greater tragedy, and I feel even those who have injured themselves or even died would agree with me. The highs and lows that come with sports mirror those that come with life. I would agree with use of a helmet for the sport. -- Joe Racine Dear Joe: Neither Mr. Bollhorst nor I advocated eliminating the event. (Perhaps I could have chosen a better headline.) Instead, he and I were advocating improved safety. Part of that is adequate coaching. Where qualified coaches are unavailable, the event should not be offered. Dear John Doherty: So what's your point? Kevin Dare's death is a tragedy but five deaths in 10 years hardly compares to the number of deaths associated with football in this area alone nor does it justify your position of eliminating the pole vault. All activities have risks associated with them. Correct me if I'm wrong because I'm new to Indiana, but this state is one of the few states which doesn't allow high school girls to participate in the pole vault and is currently being sued for discrimination because of it. I guess the answer is that we shouldn't allow boys to participate either because they might get hurt? -- Raymond C. Cook, Casino Operations Controller, Majestic Star Casino, Gary, Indiana Dear Ray: Evidently, you are someone who generally encourages people to engage in risky behavior. Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously, you may be closer to the truth than you realize regarding the event's future prospects -- at least in Indiana at the high school level. The Indiana High School Athletic Association voted to add the event to girls track five years ago. However, due to insufficient numbers, the decision was never implemented. Now a young lady in Indianapolis is suing the IHSAA under Title IX. Read on. Dear John Doherty: I am a pole vaulting coach. As events go, pole vaulting can be a bit more dangerous than other events in track and field, but it can be made reasonably safe. What I have to say takes nothing away from the tragedy when a young man dies vaulting or in any other sport. There are many more young men maimed and killed in football each year than are hurt seriously in pole vaulting. Like any other sport, certain precautions must be taken. There are institutions that certify vault coaches and clinics where the coach can learn proper teaching techniques and proper safety. -- Chuck Medley, Head Track and Field Coach, St. Xavier High School, Louisville, KY Dear Chuck: You and Mr. Cook use the same strategy of demonizing something else to divert attention from the issue at hand. Of course football has more catastrophic injuries than pole vaulting. So do soccer and basketball. They have far more participants. Unfortunately, the National Athletic Trainers' Association did not consider pole vaulting separately when it recently reported injury rates among various sports. If they had, I suspect you would not be comparing pole vaulting to football so favorably. Nonetheless, I admire your passion for your sport. If there were more like you, I doubt the controversy would have arisen. Dear John Doherty: While the fatalities in the pole vault are regrettable, this is no reason to end the event. With the increasing number of pole vaulters every year, the number of serious injuries are really quite small. I do think that the event can be made safer and think that high school and college athletes should wear helmets. While not wishing to question Mr. Bollhorst's credentials, his comments about the event show that he is no longer interested in learning how to coach and should retire. Coaching quality and event suitability has nothing to do with geography, but everything to do with the open-mindedness and love of the sport of the coach(es) in that area. -- Michael J. Roth, Vice President USA Track & Field, Long Island, NY chapter. Dear Mike: As I stated in my column, Mr. Bollhorst retired from coaching in 1990. He still officiates, though. Part of coaching, I believe, is having the ability to personally demonstrate the skill you are trying to coach, not necessarily as fast, or as far, or as high, but demonstrate it nonetheless. Mr. Bollhorst and many other track coaches I know, never having pole vaulted in their competitive days, feel they are unable to do so. As for geography, I do believe it is a factor. Very few high school gymnasiums are constructed to accommodate pole vaulting. However, in areas with better weather, skills can be honed outside year round. Dear John Doherty: I have been making, designing, and generally making a living on the pole vault most of my 26-year professional career and I hope you have changed your views on it over the past five years. Yes, it is a dangerous sport if it is not properly supervised, just like every other sport, i.e., hockey, football, diving, baseball, soccer, etc. Adopting one safety measure will not insure freedom of injury! We need to provide proper coaching with safety as the first tool, proper landing system sizes, proper standard pads, provide padding to all hard unyielding surfaces exposed, provide the proper size pole for the athlete, make sure foreign objects are not within 10 feet of the landing area, insure the athlete lands in the coaching zone, provide a helmet if they do not, and do not add any ramp or any other unsafe coaching technique to the practice or warm-ups. Complicated? NO. Simple? YES. Safe? A much better chance for fun and increased performances without injuries. -- Bruce Caldwell, President & CEO, ESSXsport Corp., Dallas, TX Dear Bruce: If you were a regular reader of my column, you would know the other sports you mentioned have not been immune to my critiques. In the last week, I have learned the IHSAA agrees with your assessment that the sport can and should be made safer. They have also determined that doing so to their satisfaction will cost member schools, on average, $10,000 each -- a nonstarter for a nonrevenue sport given the state's budget crunch. Consequently, they have told the state's athletic directors that they are leaning toward dropping the event altogether. Whether or not this is also related to the above-mentioned Title IX suit? Your guess is as good as mine -- and it is probably the same guess. John Doherty is a certified athletic trainer and licensed physical therapist. He can be reached at 1650 45th St., Munster, IN 46321; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; or (219) 922-8188.
