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.










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