PoleVaultPower.com

Now adays my vaulting seems to be very promising and I was just wondering, about how high would I have to vault or what would I have to do to get some colleges looking at me?

It depends on what kind of college you are looking to vault at. Some DIII colleges will be happy to get someone who has gone 13+ in HS. Most colleges recruit based on performances at the state HS meet or an honor roll. If you get yourself on an honor roll or get to the state meet you will be noticed.

Don't wait for colleges to notice you! Many schools have a questionnaire that prospective recruits can fill out. Look on the websites of schools you are interested in and see if they have one you can print out and mail in. You can also make a video and send it in.

Take the time to read through the thread in the College forum about choosing a school. There is a lot of good advice in there about what school will work best for you.

If there is a college that you really want to go to take her advice and be proactive about it. When I was in HS I got a bunch of letters from DIII colleges in my area after my junior year at state. I'm not sure if that still happens though. I do know that the coaches from all the colleges around my area do go to the state meet to check out potential recruits.

Contact the head coach of the schools YOU are interested in. Showing your interest in the schools goes a long way toward being noticed.
Coach J

START EARLY! I can't stress that enough. I contacted the coach here around March, and we played phone tag, until I got to school, and when I finally got in touch with him he said, "I don't need you." So definitely start early, and make sure there is no miscommunication between you and a coach. You don't want to be thinking one thing, while he/she is thinking another. Just my opinion. In addition, I second everything everyone else has said. Being Proactive is the key to getting where you want to be.

Eric

I just went through all that this summer. If youve done 16', almost any D-I college anywhere will let you be on their team... lower heights for less competitive track teams.
The best thing to do is email the pole vault coaches of the schools you like. Introduce yourself and tell about your accomplishments. If they are interested, they will start calling/ emailing a lot... get ready to send out ur SAT/ACT scores, transcripts, and try to make a highlight tape. Before your senior year, narrow it to 5 or less schools to take your recruiting trips. Its a fun process and youll learn a lot.

Question?

Does anyone know any information about Florida State University's vault program. I am applying there this summer, and was wondering about it? thanks

once i hit 14 feet theni started to get letters from d1 schools, 14'6'' more letters
also going to the national meet and doing well for my age group got me alot of letters

good luck with ur vaulting this season

i think it depends on what school you want to go to. first, find some schools you would want to go to regardless of track. then, look at what conference they are in. then look at what scores in their conferences. if you can score points at their conference meet out of hs- they pretty much want you.

dont wait for the colleges to come after you. market yourself to them. i made up a package about myself that i sent out to all of the schools that i was intterested in. isent a video of some important jumps, a bio sheet with my stats and some accomplishments, a generic letter to coaches, and a few news paper clippings. i got alot of positive response.

I say the best thing to do is to become an overall good athlete. Become good at events other than the vaut. Example ( I like to use tommy skipper a lot) tommy would be looked at by a lot of schools if he could only pole vault 13ft. Because he was a good sprinter, excellent javelin thrower and decent all the other events. In high school joe dial won the pole vault and long jump at state, and even ran a relay. Pole vaulters are expensive and unless you you are a 17ft + jumper, good at several events other than the vault, or a vault school with lots of money. Then your not going to get a whole lot of $ from DI schools. For lesser DI schools 16ft probably will get you some of $. The topic is how to attract the attention of DI schools right?