Family turns backyard into vault pit (CA)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/prepsports/ci_5907735

Family turns backyard into vault pit Livermore family turns backyard into pole vaulting den
By Steve Herendeen, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 05/16/2007 02:36:48 AM PDT

JIM AND MICHELLE Doggett could have put anything they wanted in their big Livermore backyard last September. They could have planted flowers or built one terrific barbecue area for those warm summer evenings. Maybe a hot tub.
What they chose was ... a pole vault pit, complete with a 65-foot runway.
"(The backyard) was an aviary before, and I raised parrots," said Michelle, who teams with Jim to coach 32 Granada High pole vaulters and run the 45-member Tri-Valley Vault Athletics Club. "Then, last summer ... we did this.
"It was one of those dumb ideas you banter around, and it grew out of that," she said, chuckling at the thought. "It's a little silly, but it works for us."
The Doggetts purchased the Gill Athletics pit and standards for $9,000. This year, they spent $10,000 more on 50 new poles.
Each week, Jim and Michelle hold practice sessions in the afternoon. On a very warm Tuesday last week, several Granada vaulters showed up and got in 15 or more vaults. Every vault was met with critiques and encouragement from the two coaches, who relax in chairs in the shade.
The list of advantages of practicing in the backyard vs. the high school facility is long, say the Doggetts, whose daughter, Alexis, vaults for Granada.
"With the whole team practicing at Granada, you can't slow things down," Jim explained. "Here, you can do that and fix stuff. Plus, we have a four-camera video system, so we can study the kids from four angles. We even have

lights. It glows like an airstrip out here at night."
Jim and Michelle got involved with the sport more than a decade ago when eldest son, Travis, then a freshman at Livermore, came home and announced he'd joined the track team and was going to pole vault.
"We went out and watched him, and there were no coaches. The kids were just running around with poles, and it was the scariest thing," Michelle recalled. "That's when we started learning all we could about it."
The two coached at Livermore for three years and have been at Granada the last seven. They started their club in 1999 and have built strong ties with world-class vaulters Tye Harvey and Amy Acuff.
Interestingly, neither Jim nor Michelle has ever vaulted. Well, not completely true. When the pit first went in, Michelle sneaked out one day when nobody was around and gave it a whirl.
"I cleared one bar," she said, "but I won't tell how high it was."
Jim, who can go into detail about potential energy vs. kinetic energy in vaulting and the minute differences in various poles, laughs when he's asked about pole vaulting himself.
"I've been challenged by the kids before," he admitted. "I'm just not going to do it. I'd probably really hurt myself."
Neither Jim nor Michelle see an end to this because they're enjoying themselves too much.
At the end of each year, they stage a pole vaulting party and give each of the athletes a video put to music of their jumps. Jim also builds trophies for the kids with the mark for their best vaults on them and crafts wood pen and pencil sets for the seniors that show how many years they have vaulted with the club.
"The best thing about coaching is getting to know the athletes and what makes them tick," said Jim. "Most kids come out as freshmen and sophomores. By the time they graduate, we know them really well. We see them grow up."
For more information on the Tri-Valley Vault Athletics Club, go to http://www.trivalleyvault.com.
BSAL SWIM DISASTER AVERTED: Aaron Jon Toch got the call last Friday. Due to a snafu involving insurance papers, Miramonte High's pool wasn't available for Saturday's Bay Shore Athletic League Meet.

[newPVer]

wish i had a runway in my yard. but there's kinda a pool in the way...