A Vaulter's Potential

[willschmelt]

We've all seen the discussion boards and articles about what it takes as a high school vaulter to get interest from colleges and/or be successful at that level.

http://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting-to ... guidelines
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 023AAzipnU
http://www.chacha.com/question/how-high ... cholarship
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 933AAghaHw
How accurate are these sorts of things?The numbers always vary slightly, but are the numbers really all college coaches look at? And if they look further how do they measure potential? I'm beginning to think the only way to "max" your vaulting ability is to have an exceptional height your junior year of high school because that's the only way to get recruited by a top tier school and the only way to get serious coaching seems to be at those top tier schools. So many elite high school vaulters get recruited to a solid college program and never reach their high school PR. I know there are numerous reasons for this seeing as high school and college are two completely different things. But isn't it sad that a 16 foot high school vaulter gets a scholarship to a D-1 program and PRs at 15'9 either because he is too used to being the big man on campus (winning all the district meets and what not) or he reached his full potential in high school, whereas a 12 foot high school vaulter that never had a decent coach doesn't vault in college but if he had been able to tap into his potential he could've been a 17 foot college vaulter?

[Branko720]

I think that the other problem, which I have mentioned in another post is that many kids don't look into Division 2 and 3 schools. In D 3 North Central has had many great vaulters and in my area places like Kutztown, Moravian, and Ramapo (where I coach) do good jobs as well. So many of the kids who don't go to a top tier program go to a D1 without a program and falter. I think if a kid has a choice between schools in the same academic arena then they can start looking into the best vault school out of the group, but too often a D2 or D3 isn't looked at even when the vault program at that particular D 2 or D 3 may be far superior to the ones at a D 1. Sometimes the kid has to figure out where they should go to improve the most.

[Barto]

You don't have to jump high as a Jr to get access to a good college program. What you do have to do is research who are REALLY the best vault coaches around and then market yourself to them.

[calebpatrickcoffee]

I think that the problem is vaulters dream too much at jumping at a D-1 school for the prestige. And most of the time the D-1 schools they choose don't even have a good vault program let alone a coach that they see every day. I agree with Branko720, kids need to start looking more at D 2 and D 3 schools. The thing that the kids need to decide on is if they want to vault at a D1 school for the prestige and risk the possibility of not getting any better, depending on the program that is, or if they want to become the best that they can be and look more at schools where they have strong vault programs where the coach cares about them as a person rather then just another 15 or 16 footer weather that means D1, D2, D3, or even NAIA.

[kewh]

You don't have to jump high as a Jr to get access to a good college program. What you do have to do is research who are REALLY the best vault coaches around and then market yourself to them.

I agree totally. This is the only way to do it. It is nice to have motivated parents to help also.

[xander771]

I agree totally. This is the only way to do it. It is nice to have motivated parents to help also.

especially during your first steps

[Tumbleweed]

One of the major deciding factors on D3 or NAIA is financial costs. D3 do not award athletic scholarships only academic. This makes private D3 schools some of the most expenive options available.
So when deciding remember state D1, D2 and NAIA schools offer both types of scholarships and in the end money may matter.

[VaultPurple]

A lot depends on location. In some states the state funded schools are DII and DIII while the big DI schools are private and more expensive. While on the other hand some states have large DI schools that are state funded and the small DII and DIII schools are private and more expensive.

In North Carolina it is pretty much a must to go to DI because almost all of the state funded schools are DI and the DII an DIII schools are more than double the cost per year and I do not know of any that have a full stock of pole vaulting poles. Most of them throw a little money at a 14'6 kid because that is good enough to win their conference, they hope they have the right pole for him and he will stay jumping that height for 4 years with the coaches being perfectly happy. However of the 10 DI schools in North Carolina that have pole vaulting programs that consistently have vaulters, poles, and a coach, 7 of them are public schools and 3 are private. I only know of two DII schools in the state that have pole vaulting and neither really have a pole selection or coach.

But I know there are other states that have DII programs that have a full selection of poles and great coaches, so it all just depends.


But on topic of the potential... It all depends so widely. All the links you posted were along the right lines. But there are some kids worse than that that a coach may really like, and there are kids better that a coach may not like. A lot depends on how much better the coach thinks the athlete will get. And then sometimes just roster spots. If a school has 5 vaulters over 15' with some 16'+ guys mixed in there, and their school has a roster cap, they probably will not even take another 15'6 or 16' guy as a walk on just because that means they would have to cut someone.

[achtungpv]

One of the major deciding factors on D3 or NAIA is financial costs. D3 do not award athletic scholarships only academic. This makes private D3 schools some of the most expenive options available.
So when deciding remember state D1, D2 and NAIA schools offer both types of scholarships and in the end money may matter.

Relying on a pole vaulting scholarship is really a bad idea. Generally, the places that will offer a large scholarship to a one event athlete are usually places you don't want to go (either because of academics or coaching, sometimes both). There's no guarantee you'll get that scholarship the next year regardless of performance. For example, the former high school national record holder "only" got an 80% scholarship which was reduced for his senior year after he won the NCAA title as a junior to free up money for an incoming freshman.

If you actually need the money, you would be far better served focusing on academic scholarships, grants, and loans. Consider any athletic scholarship icing on the cake.

[VaultPurple]

There's no guarantee you'll get that scholarship the next year regardless of performance. For example, the former high school national record holder "only" got an 80% scholarship which was reduced for his senior year after he won the NCAA title as a junior to free up money for an incoming freshman.

Very few schools do this and most's administration do not allow scholarship reduction. NCAA allows it, but there are some schools that frown upon it.

But what I think most people mean by the financial cost especially with no scholarships in DIII is that the DII and DIII schools are already double the price of the DI schools so even if they got no scholarship from the DI school, it would still be just as cheep as getting 50% from a private DII school.

And say u only get 25% for being a vaulter when school cost 20k a year, you are still saving 5k a year and paying 15k vs some private schools price of up to 50k a year.

[achtungpv]

Comparing cost isn't apples to apples. Spend $40K a year at DIII M.I.T. or spend $15K a year at DI Directional State University and tell me which one is a better value 5 years out of college.

People need to really not be fixated so much on scholarships. There's so much more involved in picking a right school that athletic scholarships should never make the top 10.

[Branko720]

But what I think most people mean by the financial cost especially with no scholarships in DIII is that the DII and DIII schools are already double the price of the DI schools so even if they got no scholarship from the DI school, it would still be just as cheep as getting 50% from a private DII school.

As far as cost I think I would like to see some hard line numbers. I know of three Division III programs in New Jersey that are state funded. And who says there aren't private Division I programs out there that are way expensive. I don't think you can make a blanket statement about cost.

Earlier I wasn't even bringing cost into the discussion and as Achtungpv stated D I school willing to give money to 14' to 15' guys for example don't have great programs. I think D III's are overlooked because of perception not cost. Pricey Division I programs don't seem to have trouble recruiting.