Pole Vault City has announced a new addition to the family. The club focused on training and improving vaulters is now home to an indoor facility in Melbourne. Co-owner and coach Bobby Haeck say now they can focus on training no matter the conditions outside or time of day.
"It opened October 1st. We have a warehouse we are training in so we can train athletes in the evenings and in inclement weather throughout the year. The purpose of the facility is to instruct vaulters in proper technique and develop their technique as their run length increases.
The only drawbacks are the size of the building. Hoeck says due to the size 21 foot roof and other dimensions the runway is shortened.
"The run is about 56 feet. We can't due full approach vaulting, but it does give them a chance to refine their technique and jump from that distance. This is kind of phase one in our plan to have a larger building. This one came available and we're taking advantage of it."
Haeck is also taking advantage of the fact that Florida has no indoor season like most states up north and in the Midwest where pole vault is more popular. To keep area pole vaulters sharp and refine their skills Pole Vault City is hosting their first meet in their new facility December 10th at noon. The meet will be a short approach meet (8 steps or less) and is approved by USATF. He says despite the a likely small turnout in the quantity of athletes there will definitely be quality.
"We are expecting a small turnout between 12 and 20 kids, but just because we have small numbers doesn't mean we will have small performances. We have the defending 4A State Champion Emily Gale from Ft. Lauderdale. We have Josh McDaniel returning in the boys division and Corey Smith who will be one of the better vaulters in 1A. We're going to have some real quality vaulters coming in this week. I didn't expect a huge turnout because some people don't even know we are open."
He knows it's just a matter of time before word gets out and the state knows their indoor facility is up and running. He plans to use the facility to give his athletes an edge on the competition when it comes to meets like Jimmy Carnes at the University of Florida and New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York. He even has aspirations of hosting a sort of Southeast Pole Vault Summit in the future.
"We want to set something up on a local state and around the country to promote the pole vault. This is a smaller base of where we want to be. We to make sure the business model will hold because we are the first to do this in the state of Florida."
Pole Vault City