Legendary pole vault coach Tom George calling it quits (OH)

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Legendary pole vault coach Tom George calling it quits
Filed by Medina Gazette June 22nd, 2010 in Sports.

Dan Brown
The Gazette

MEDINA — No pole vault coach in the state is more respected and has been more successful than Medina’s Tom George.

In his time on the Bees coaching staff, George has produced two state champs and a host of state qualifi-ers, including a two-decade period in which he had 13 athletes qualify. The veteran mentor also coached the top 10 vaulters in school history.

“At the Berea Relays, I overheard Berea’s coach (Ryan Nigro) say, ‘That man has forgotten more about pole vaulting than I will ever know,’” Medina boys coach Bob Jenkins said. “That’s the reputation he has.”

The 70-year-old George built quite a name for him-self in his four-plus decades, which included induction into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, but has decided to call it quits after dealing with some ongoing health issues throughout the past season.

True to his nature, George was more inclined to talk about coming close to another individual state champ with Medina junior Alex Wasik this past season than his retirement.

“It was just time to step down,” said George, who has had three separate stints as the school’s pole vault coach. “To come so close to winning it all this year with Alex, certainly she’s the story and has a great chance next year.”

George was referring to Wasik jumping a personal-record 11 feet, 8 inches. She lost out on gold by a mere two inches.
A football and track standout at Minerva High School, George went on to play offensive guard for Mount Union College before moving on to teach and coach at his alma mater.

After a three-year stint as head football coach and as a track mentor at Waterloo High, he came to Medina in 1969. He stayed for the next 27 years, teaching U.S. History along with serving as an assistant on the football and track staffs.

George, an accomplished hurdler as a prep, started coaching the pole vault at Medina after never having competed in the event.

“I almost got the event by default at the beginning,” he recalled. “Everyone on the staff was responsible for a running event and a field event, but everyone shied away from the pole vault.”

With the build of a lineman and having never even attempted to vault over a bar, he knew he had some research to do if he was going to be an asset.

“You know by looking at me that I’ve never vaulted in my life,” George joked. “Through studying books, tapes and the Internet nowadays, I could find an image and was able to imag-ine what the vault is like.”

With the knowledge he picked up, George turned coaching the event into an art.

George had his first state champ in 1982 with Roger Wood, just one of many highlights in a 20-year span from 1974-94, in which he helped 13 Bees reach the state meet. His other state champ came in 1988 when Tyler Pratt took the title. Pratt’s jump of 15-8 at the Pioneer Conference Meet still stands as the Medina school record.

“I’ve always said that he’s the best pole vault coach in Ohio,” former Medina track coach and fellow Medina County Sports Hall of Famer Jim Demo said. “He’s the master and I hate to see him step away. He communicates well with the kids and has a whole lot of patience.”

Once he got the tactical moves of the event down, George combined that with his ability to motivate young students to achieve their very best.

“Coach George has always had a way of making situations seem less stress-ful for all of us,” Wasik said. “There was only one time in my career as a pole vaulter that he got a little stern with me. He said to me, ‘Are you going to kick that pole’s butt or is it going to kick yours?’”
That’s just the colorful enthusiasm George has always had and what will be missed at area meets next spring.

In recent years, George could be seen from his lawn chair watching as the event unfolded and giving point-ers to each of his athletes between jumps.
On the day of big meets, the coach would bring his vaulters an orange juice, a banana and some kind of breakfast snack to keep their energy up.

“Without Coach George, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Wasik said. “I don’t know another coach more caring toward his athletes. He just knows how to keep you motivated.”

That approach is not a new thing for George, as Demo recalled a similar situation 27 years ago.

“I remember him with Roger Wood, who was a really good kid, and unlike most pole vaulters, who are crazy, he was sincere,” Demo said, “He got some jitters before the state meet where he couldn’t clear the bar in practice. The two just sat on the pit and he talked to him, while I was a nerv-ous wreck. He’s a master of things like that.”

George added that Wood was one of the more incredible stories of his coaching career, especially with how the end of the regular season unfolded for the athlete.

“It all started with the Berea Relays, where he no-heighted, and then he no-heighted at a dual meet and the Southwestern Confer-ence Meet,” he said. “It took me so long to figure out what was wrong, but from that point on he missed just one jump as he won the district, regional and state meets.”

It’s the personal relationship George built with athletes like Wood that he will miss the most.
Showing kids that they can do whatever they want is just one of the many lessons he wanted his understudies to take with them.

“I’m definitely going to miss the contact with the kids, not just the various champs and the kids that made it to state,” George said.
“I never taught anyone anything, I just gave them the permission to accom-plish, let them dream and break some barriers. We all set limits on ourselves, but there is no reason why you can’t accomplish your dreams. Breaking down barriers and being techni-cally sound is what it’s all about.”