Volunteer coaches turned away

[rainbowgirl28]

When you go to big meets and can't help but notice the age of the officials working the meet look like your grandparents, maybe it is time to step up and help,

Yes, this is a HUGE problem. The officials in this country are OLD and are in desperate need of fresh blood.

Unfortunately, there is not much money in track, and officials rarely get paid, at least not out here and not at most USATF events. Younger people often can't afford to travel very far to volunteer officiate, at least that's the problem I've been having. And now of course having a kid makes it harder, another problem younger people face.

I encourage all high school coaches to become a certified official. It's not that hard and you'll usually do a better job of running the pole vault than someone with a non-PV background.

[belmore]

Hell yeah we're old, we've had to deal with pole vaulters all these years. We're lucky here, alot of the old pole vaulters are now volunteering to be officials, get certified and help. Texas vaulters seem to keep a hand in it, even when their careers are over. They show back up and help the next bunch have a shot at a good competition. Kinda proud of them.

[belmore]

By the way, happy Mother's day Becca!

[Kindig_girls]

We had a guy who wanted to volunteer his help in polevaulting also but was turned away because he happened to be a recruiter for one of the armed forces. The AD said it was a conflict of interest that he might influence someone to his branch of service.