Ed Dare Visits Holy Cross HS

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/ ... 90409.html

Dare visits Holy Cross with safety in mind
By KEVIN CRANSTON
Burlington County Times



DELRAN - Feb. 23, 2002 was a day that truly changed Ed Dare's life.

While watching his son Kevin, a former Holy Cross High School student-athlete, compete in the pole vault for Penn State University at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships, Dare witnessed something that no parent should have to endure.

Upon taking off for a jump, Kevin fell backward and hit his head on the plant box, which resulted in the sophomore's death.

In dealing with this tragedy, it would have been easy for Dare to become angry and call for the sport to be banned. But that wasn't the case.

Instead, Dare decided to take action and make pole vaulting, the sport that was such an important part of his son's life, safer for competitors across the country.

The end result was a 500 gram carbon fiber shell that is aerodynamic in design and includes all the necessary safety features. These include a multi-impact liner that will prevent denting, a chin strap and stabilization system and impact absorbers.

Cost of the helmet is $99 and 9 percent of the proceeds of every one sold will go to the Kevin Dare Foundation, which will go toward raising money for school's that can't afford it.

"Everything came about due to Penn State's support," Dare said. "After the accident, we kind of found out what was wrong with this sport and the amount of accidents that occurred. I then went to Tim Curley, who is the athletic director at Penn State, and I told him, 'This can't happen again.'

"Then, all the professors and all the doctors at the university just opened up their departments and said, 'This shouldn't be that tough; we can do this.' There were professors and graduate students all working on the project. We were all doing it in honor of Kevin, but we knew the purpose of it was to save lives."


It was during his two years at Holy Cross that Kevin became a promising athlete. He was a member of the football team and excelled as a vaulter on the track team.

"I just can't say enough about Kevin," Harper said. "We knew he was a superlative athlete in the making. He pushed himself to the max and just went the extra distance to make himself better."

After his sophomore year, the Dare's moved to State College, Pa., where Kevin finished his final two years of high school. There, he was the 2000 PIAA state champion in the pole vault. He won U.S. Junior Track and Field Championships, while at Penn State.

Knowing the pain and anguish the Dare family went through, the Holy Cross coaches will fully endorse the use of the helmet.

"We will mandate it immediately," Harper said. "We will tell the story to the team and I'll remind them the impact of me standing beside a parent that I respect and that has done a lot for the program. I'll remind them of how I watched him cry and how much it hurt to talk about his son. Hopefully, we'll be able to carry on the message further."

E-mail: kcranston@phillyBurbs.com

[BethelPV]

I like the idea of a Pole Vault specific helmet, but I myself will never wear one. I think that helmets are too uncomfortable coming down the runway. I tried to wear my bmx biking helmet once, and it not only felt like it was dragging on my head as I was running, but it was also very weird to land on. My head always seemed to be uncomfortable.

I would definately encourage vaulters, especially younger ones to wear a helmet while learning the proper way to vault, and if they choose to continue wearing them. I will never force a person to wear one because of my experiences with how umcomfortable it was.

Zachmo