Bubba Sparks is on top of game at 55

[rainbowgirl28]

http://hcnonline.com/articles/2008/11/2 ... er_web.txt

Vaulter on top of game at age 55




By CHARLIE BIER
Updated: 11.26.08
Forget Social Security, The Woodlands’ Doug “Bubba” Sparks is more worried about snagging a world record or two.

Sparks, at age 55, is an elite pole vaulter, just like in the 1970’s, when he was a five-time All American at Southwest Texas State and three-time national champion. After reviving his career in 1989, he now competes in USA Track & Field-sanctioned age-group meets. During Act II, he’s earned a slew of titles and top-tier finishes in national and international meets.

But the accolades still come second to the high Sparks gets from the act of catapulting himself skyward. “Some people golf. Some people surf. I pole vault,” he said.

It’s irrelevant to Sparks that his top jumps today are about five feet lower than in his prime in 1978, when he cleared 18'1".

“You look back and you go, ‘Hey, I may not be what I was, but it still has the same feeling, it’s still the same thing,’” he said.

And there’s a definite upside. Sparks can refine technical flaws he was unaware of as a 25-year-old. He also gets to reprocesses information he may have heard three decades ago.

“Something somebody tells you may mean something totally different now, (because) you’ve progressed to another level of understanding it,” he said.

Sparks’ encore was launched in a roundabout way. Cross-country commutes from his California home to a Wall Street job were wearing him down. Throw in a divorce, and he found himself 70 pounds overweight and “overstressed.” Exercising solely to shed pounds left him uninspired.

“I was having difficulty making myself work out just for my health,” he said.

Then, he read a newspaper article advancing an upcoming track and field meet in California “for people who used to be athletes.” Checking the event out, Sparks was amazed to see a man heavier than himself pole vault. But what really blew him away was watching an 85-year-old set a world record.

“That’s the first time I had any idea that people who were older were still jumping,” said Sparks, who realized he had found both a way “to stay sane” and “reason to work out.”

Only four pounds heavier now than the 171 he weighed in his prime, the 5' 11" tall Sparks still sets the bar high. In September, he took the Texas Senior Games men’s 55 age division record with a 13' 1/4" vault. This summer, he missed, by exactly one inch, the age-55 American record of 13'6 1/4", a mark he still covets.

“I’ve made that in practice a couple of times,” he said.

Sparks would probably vault just for the heck of it if he had to. He enjoys the camaraderie, being around “some of the guys that I jumped with when I was a kid.” Not that it’s all fun and games, though. Sparks knows one wrong move could dump him smack dab on his head.

Early in his career, Sparks broke bones, took stitches and suffered sprains and bruises. A pole once snapped on him in mid-air, laying a welt across his back as thick as a shovel handle.

You can get dinged up a little bit,” he said.

In the second stage of his career, Sparks’ worst injury came in 2001, when he suffered a seven-inch vertical gash to his Achilles tendon. A subsequent infection, which developed long after Sparks thought the wound had healed, almost cost him more than the two years he was grounded.

“I almost lost the bottom half of my left leg from it. I thought I was done,” he said.

Not hardly.

Once healthy, but with intentions of staying on the sidelines, the vaulting bug bit Sparks yet again. He was coaching a 71-year-old friend training for a meet in Hawaii. Sparks says one thing led to another and he “started screwing around a little bit.”

“I jumped eight feet one day, and my leg didn’t hurt or swell up or anything. The next week I went out there and I jumped nine feet. I didn’t even tell my wife, I just quietly started (training),” he said.

Nancy Sparks says she doesn’t worry about the risks her husband takes, and has confidence in his abilities.

“I just don’t think about it too much,” she said. “One thing, at his age, he’s proactive. He can kind of look ahead and see where the problems lie, and he’ll quit if he knows things aren’t going good.”

She also takes heart in the fact her husband is the consummate professional.

“I’m amazed by the commitment and dedication,” she said. “The coldest days, rainy days, it doesn’t matter, he’s out there.”

For his part, Sparks is happy sharing any knowledge he’s gleaned over the years. He traveled to Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games, helping the United States pole vaulting team. He also assists Robbie Dueitt, the pole vaulting coach at The Woodlands High School where, in turn, he gets to practice.

“Bubba is a unique person,” said Dan Green, TWHS’ track and field coach. “He has absolutely no ego, and at the same time, he’s a champion. He’s a driven man. He trains just like a 20-year-old out there.”

[souleman]

I would have to add to the story that Bubba could easily claim the title of "pole vaulting's best friend". His informational arsenal is an open book to anyone who needs or wants to read it. I imagine the numbers are in the 100's of people he has helped either choose to pole vault again or choose not to. His specialty is us "geezers". Because he has traveled down the comeback road he is readily agreeable to provide the insight for those who want to comeback to this sport. His familiar reply to first time inquisitors of "welcome back Brotha" is just that. A sincere welcome to anyone who is thinking about jumping again. Yep! Truly a great guy in the pole vault world. Later.................Mike

[Bubba PV]

Thanks for the kind words Mike. You're quite the "Greeter" yourself, with TONS of great advice.

Funny how this article came about. The paper was out in August to do a story on our cross country team (just won it's 15th State Meet) and the guy asked the coach, "what's up with the old guy pole vaulting"? Turns out the editor is a pole vault fan so he picked it up and did it himself three months later. Super nice guy. Bubba