Advice for Pole Vault Parents
If you’re reading this, it probably means your kid is a pole vaulter—or is trying to become one. That already makes you special. This sport isn’t for the faint of heart, and neither is parenting a vaulter.
Pole vaulting is unpredictable, humbling, and wildly technical. Your child will miss far more bars than they clear. They’ll come home frustrated, sore, tired—and sometimes over the moon with joy. Your job in all of it? Be their steady place.
I say this not just as a coach, but as a parent. I’ve watched all three of my own kids step onto the runway. I’ve celebrated their PRs, held back nerves as they gripped a longer than the last one, and driven them home after tough meets where they failed to clear any bar at all.
What I’ve learned is this: our job isn’t to fix everything. It’s to walk beside them as they figure it out.
They’ll have coaches to tell them how to plant, swing, and invert. What they need from you is something deeper:
Your presence: Show up—even when it’s cold. Even when they are in a slump. Even when they don’t want to talk about it.
Your patience: Progress in this sport is slow and uneven. Sometimes the best support is simply being okay with that.
Your praise for effort, not outcomes: Celebrate the grind, not just the medal. Let them know you’re proud of how they handled the day—not just how they jumped.
Your restraint: Resist the urge to coach from the sideline or relive your own athletic dreams through their performance. This is their journey. Let them own it. Don’t set impossible bars for them - celebrate every clearance.
Your permission to quit—or not: Let them fall in love with the sport for themselves. If they decide to walk away, respect that. And if they decide to go all in? Cheer like crazy.
And I know this not just from coaching or from watching other families—I know it from my own story.
In my family, pole vaulting is more than a sport—it’s something passed down. My dad first picked up a pole in junior high, though I didn’t know that when I started vaulting in high school. He never mentioned it. He just let me find it on my own.
Then, one day, when I was struggling with my technique, my dad, at 47 years old, picked up a pole, ran down the runway, and unofficially broke our school record before I did, wearing a suit and tie. That’s how I found out he’d been a vaulter all along. He didn’t lecture or correct—he showed me. And he did it with joy.
I’ve since introduced all three of my kids to pole vaulting. Not all of them loved it, and I respected that. For the ones who did, I got to share something special with them—not just the technical side, but the mindset, the work ethic, and the simple joy of flying. And for the one who didn’t, we share other things he finds important.
But when I think back to my own childhood, what I remember most isn’t how high I jumped. My parents were always there. They were my biggest cheerleaders. They celebrated with me, encouraged me, and stood proudly by me—whether I won the meet or no-heighted. They simply loved watching me jump - still do. I haven’t given up yet.
My parents came to every meet, even when I knew they probably couldn’t afford to. They made sacrifices, not for medals, but for memories.
And that’s what I hope every parent reading this understands: your presence matters more than your knowledge of the sport. You don’t need to know the difference between a 13’ 160 and a 14’ 155. You just need to love your kid loud and steady—and let them know you’re proud of who they are, not just what they achieve.
A Few Things That Matter Most:
Show up without an agenda.
Ask questions, but don’t interrogate.
Be the calm when they’re emotional.
Celebrate the little wins—like showing up after a hard day.
Trust the coaches, and trust your kid.
Know that what they learn in this sport may show up in ways you can’t see until years later.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to understand the physics of the vault to be a great pole vault parent. You just need to love your kid through the ups and downs, stay grounded when they’re not, and let this wild, beautiful sport shape you both.