What’s the AD thinking at Fairless?

scrumdog

Member
Fairless has several girls and boys pole vaulters, one is a senior who went to state as a sophomore, and the team does not have a coach for pole vaulting. One vaulter practiced with Perry’s vaulters because his uncle is the coach, but that doesn’t help anyone else, boys or girls, who want to vault for Fairless this year that doesn’t have that opportunity? As of today, there is still no one coaching pole vault with the first meet this Saturday. Shouldn’t an AD and the coach be on top of this situation or is something else going on? What about the student athletes? Those that coached vaulters in 2019, the last time there was a season, have all resigned. What a way to get athletes back to state or get new athletes there in the first place.

Are high school seniors able to do their senior year over like the NCAA? There was no baseball or track season last year and there is limited practice time and facilities during this pandemic year as well. What about those kids that were deprived of their whole track and baseball season last year and with limited practice times this season that had hopes of a scholarshup? Baseball and track athletes have taken a real hit. They lost an entire season last year and limited indoor time this year. These kids work for college scholarships just like basketball and football students do that didn’t miss an entire season and they have been unjustly punished by not being able to compete for scholarships like football and basketball players. It just worked out that way because of the timing when the schools were shut down. It was after football season and after the regular season of basketball, so those sports were not deprived of a full season of completion like baseball and track was. They missed their whole junior year. Those athletes should be allowed by OHSAA to redo their senior year, if they so desire. That’s just IMO. WHAT DO OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS SITE THINK? I’m for letting baseball and track seniors to have that option. Thoughts.......
 
 
Assuming they are a competent student, what classes would they take? I can't imagine any student with any self-respect would choose to add another year to their high school experience so they could have another shot at pole vaulting in the spring. Most of their friends would be off to college or careers and they're sitting in elective courses so they can vault? Come on!?!?
 
Fairless has several girls and boys pole vaulters, one is a senior who went to state as a sophomore, and the team does not have a coach for pole vaulting. One vaulter practiced with Perry’s vaulters because his uncle is the coach, but that doesn’t help anyone else, boys or girls, who want to vault for Fairless this year that doesn’t have that opportunity? As of today, there is still no one coaching pole vault with the first meet this Saturday. Shouldn’t an AD and the coach be on top of this situation or is something else going on? What about the student athletes? Those that coached vaulters in 2019, the last time there was a season, have all resigned. What a way to get athletes back to state or get new athletes there in the first place.

Are high school seniors able to do their senior year over like the NCAA? There was no baseball or track season last year and there is limited practice time and facilities during this pandemic year as well. What about those kids that were deprived of their whole track and baseball season last year and with limited practice times this season that had hopes of a scholarshup? Baseball and track athletes have taken a real hit. They lost an entire season last year and limited indoor time this year. These kids work for college scholarships just like basketball and football students do that didn’t miss an entire season and they have been unjustly punished by not being able to compete for scholarships like football and basketball players. It just worked out that way because of the timing when the schools were shut down. It was after football season and after the regular season of basketball, so those sports were not deprived of a full season of completion like baseball and track was. They missed their whole junior year. Those athletes should be allowed by OHSAA to redo their senior year, if they so desire. That’s just IMO. WHAT DO OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS SITE THINK? I’m for letting baseball and track seniors to have that option. Thoughts.......

Pole vault coaches are extremely difficult to find. Not every school has one. My school almost didn't have one 3 years ago until an alum magically appeared to coach her sister and to get some cheap experience on her resume. Well, little sister graduated last spring, and there is nobody out there to replace the coach. In general, the more technical the event, the harder it is to find a coach for it. I occasionally check the OHSAA's website to see what job openings are out there. Pole vault and throws coaches are always in high demand followed by hurdles/jumps coaches, then sprint coaches, and finally the distance coaches who are a dime a dozen. It's not unheard of for some schools to go together and share a PV coach, or the club coaches will split their time among vaulters from various schools.

Additionally, there's also not very much scholarship money out there for pole vaulters unless they're either really good (just being a state qualifier isn't enough) or have demonstrated that they can compete in other events, too.

As for the idea of giving spring athletes an extra year of eligibility, no thanks. I had an entire relay returning last spring after medaling at state as juniors. While all have expressed retrospective disappointment that they didn't get to compete as seniors and attempt to improve on their state placing, not 1 of them would want to spend an extra year in HS. They prefer where they're at now. All 4 will try their hand at competing in college. 3 of the 4 got absolutely no athletic money from their college, and the 4th may have gotten a couple thousand bucks at best.

Get good grades and standardized test scores. There's far more academic scholarship money out there than there is athletic money.
 
How did we all survive decades of vaulting with smaller vaulting pits, less reliable poles, and NO qualified vault coaches to speak of decades ago? I am being facetious, of course, as while I do promote safety in the vault situations like this arise yearly as qualified vault coaches are typically former vaulters themselves who have the time through their work to be available for coaching multiples of kids. There aren't many out there in that position, to say the least!
 
Someone on that staff has to have their PV certificate, or even the kid practicing with Perry can't vault at meets. I'm sure they can find a school nearby that would help coach them. I've provided a link below. Have someone take two hours out of their day, if that, and become certified.


The other stuff about an extra year is crazy. My son was a senior last season and it was rough. He had his sights on making it to the state meet, but life goes on. He worked his butt off. We had a team that had a chance at podium and he wanted to be apart of that. He'll be ok as will the 1001's of other kids. Perspective.
 
Last edited:
Fairless has several girls and boys pole vaulters, one is a senior who went to state as a sophomore, and the team does not have a coach for pole vaulting. One vaulter practiced with Perry’s vaulters because his uncle is the coach, but that doesn’t help anyone else, boys or girls, who want to vault for Fairless this year that doesn’t have that opportunity? As of today, there is still no one coaching pole vault with the first meet this Saturday. Shouldn’t an AD and the coach be on top of this situation or is something else going on? What about the student athletes? Those that coached vaulters in 2019, the last time there was a season, have all resigned. What a way to get athletes back to state or get new athletes there in the first place.

Are high school seniors able to do their senior year over like the NCAA? There was no baseball or track season last year and there is limited practice time and facilities during this pandemic year as well. What about those kids that were deprived of their whole track and baseball season last year and with limited practice times this season that had hopes of a scholarshup? Baseball and track athletes have taken a real hit. They lost an entire season last year and limited indoor time this year. These kids work for college scholarships just like basketball and football students do that didn’t miss an entire season and they have been unjustly punished by not being able to compete for scholarships like football and basketball players. It just worked out that way because of the timing when the schools were shut down. It was after football season and after the regular season of basketball, so those sports were not deprived of a full season of completion like baseball and track was. They missed their whole junior year. Those athletes should be allowed by OHSAA to redo their senior year, if they so desire. That’s just IMO. WHAT DO OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS SITE THINK? I’m for letting baseball and track seniors to have that option. Thoughts.......

This is hilarious! Someone is totally losing their mind over HS Pole Vaulting. I would love to hear the conversation when Paul Pole Vaulter tells the College he has been trying to get into for the last 4 years (academically) that he is declining acceptance in order to take HS Classes and Pole Vault??‍♂️
 
Also, wouldn’t any person they brought in to coach vaulters have to have all there state coaching certifications. I don’t think you can just have volunteers any more. They can volunteer but they still must have their coaching certifications. I would also worry having someone from another school coach your vaulters from a liability issue. I would assume your school must approve this. All of our coaches must be approved by our administration paid or volunteered.
 
Also, wouldn’t any person they brought in to coach vaulters have to have all there state coaching certifications. I don’t think you can just have volunteers any more. They can volunteer but they still must have their coaching certifications. I would also worry having someone from another school coach your vaulters from a liability issue. I would assume your school must approve this. All of our coaches must be approved by our administration paid or volunteered.
Yes, everyone has to have the FBI/BCI background check and fundamentals of coaching etc. if they are on the staff paid or volunteer. However, I assume they already have a track and field coaching staff and to get one of them certified in PV is not difficult. Even if the kids train at a "Vault Club", they still need a certified coach on staff for meets. The coach that Fairless had was very good. I find it hard to believe that someone on staff didn't pick up something from him on how to coach the event. Unless everyone is gone. You have to start somewhere. Get a coach on staff certified and then start learning. A lot of hours goes into coaching.
 
Speaking as the coach who has had (when we did not have a vault coach) to coach pole vault occasionally, the safety course is not hard. And on the whole, I think PV coaches are just about the most helpful and friendly event coaches in track and field. I know enough to help our really good vaulters fix something small in the middle of a competition, but not enough to tell a newbie which of the eight things they are doing wrong (only four or five of which I can even see) is the first one to address. But almost always another coach there will jump in and help out.
 
They should have two outstanding boy vaulters. Didn't they just vault at the indoor Finale? They were like 13-6 and 12' vaulters as a soph and frosh two seasons ago. They were at our Regional. I know I saw them at the OATCCC meet. (I just looked and they did vault at the OATCCC.) So, they are being coached by someone. [Probably at IVC] The school just needs one of the on staff coaches to be certified. They should be ok. Easy fix.
 
No to the extra year of eligibility. I get the pain, believe me. Coventry had returned 2 state qualifiers, and a number of regional placers from 2019, into 2020. 2020 was set up to be a huge year for us, and to see it robbed from us, is certainly something we will not get over very easily. We now go into the 2021 season down substantially from where we have been. Many new faces, much rebuilding. However, the logistics of a do-over season is simply impossible at this stage. We go on, with the lesson of taking nothing for granted. Yes this is an adversity, but over the years, we have endured adversity, in graduation losses, injury bugs, etc. Coventry shall overcome this by the same way they have overcome past challenges; by trusting in each other, and their head coach. They will bounce back.
 
This is hilarious! Someone is totally losing their mind over HS Pole Vaulting. I would love to hear the conversation when Paul Pole Vaulter tells the College he has been trying to get into for the last 4 years (academically) that he is declining acceptance in order to take HS Classes and Pole Vault??‍♂️

No one is losing their mind, I asked a question. I think it‘s good to get other peoples thoughts and ideas on situations away from family and school members, even those that are more lame than others. you missed the whole dang point!. But several posters made good sense and put some perspective on it. Just wanted some varying opinions. Kids are resilienot and they’ll bounce back. But I feel that any help they can get to get some schooling paid for by scholarships, sports or achedemic, I’m all for that, no matter the sport or achedemic discipline. Thanks for insights
 
Event 34 Boys Pole Vault
================================================================================
Tri-County: # 14-04 4/3/2021 Brant Marchand, Fairless
Tri-County: # 14-04 4/3/2021 Brant Marchand, Fairless
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
================================================================================
1 Brant Marchand 11 Fairless 14-07.00 14-04.00# 10
2 Brady Wickham 12 Fairless 14-00.00 13-06.00 8



SO, YOU DON'T FEEL THE NEED FOR A RETRACTION OF SOME SORT? Seems like you didn't know the situation very well.
 
Event 34 Boys Pole Vault
================================================================================
Tri-County: # 14-04 4/3/2021 Brant Marchand, Fairless
Tri-County: # 14-04 4/3/2021 Brant Marchand, Fairless
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
================================================================================
1 Brant Marchand 11 Fairless 14-07.00 14-04.00# 10
2 Brady Wickham 12 Fairless 14-00.00 13-06.00 8



SO, YOU DON'T FEEL THE NEED FOR A RETRACTION OF SOME SORT? Seems like you didn't know the situation very well.

Incidentally, I had forgotten who Fairless' current AD is. He has been there for about 2 years now, and he is about as close as most schools can hope to come to having a "track guy" for an AD. He was a thrower in HS (used to hold the Suburban League record in the discus) and was a head track coach elsewhere before becoming AD at Fairless. Even so, it doesn't change the fact that PV coaches are hard to find.
 
1 Brant Marchand 11 Fairless 14-07.00 14-04.00# 10

Joel's son? As most probably know he was a low 9 min. two miler in the late 70's or early 80's. It was my first few years coaching in Ohio. He had a solid career at malone also. Fairless rings a bell as Joel's school.
 
Joel's son? As most probably know he was a low 9 min. two miler in the late 70's or early 80's. It was my first few years coaching in Ohio. He had a solid career at malone also. Fairless rings a bell as Joel's school.
Joel was a Fairless grad and a 5x state champion in track and XC (1x mile, 2x 2 mile, 2x XC plus 1x runner-up in XC team competition). Brant might be a nephew, but I admittedly can't keep all of the offspring straight with regard to whose kids are whose. Joel's HS coach served as the starter for my school's 1st 2 meets. He's a fixture for working track and XC meets involving the local mid and small-sized schools. I think Fairless and the PAC-7 have him on retainer.

Ironically, my school would've been at this meet yesterday but didn't make the cut when they decided to scale it back for this year. Maybe next year. My school will be there next month for a twilight invitational.
 
Last edited:
Top