• Jeff Butler the Pole Vaulter

    I got a call today from a woman that believes she has a kid that wants to be a decathlete and she believes he can excel at pole vaulting. I coach pole vaulting and I’ve seen a lot in my time, and I knew that a child who starts his junior year as a decathlete won’t go very far. And im getting a call from a volleyball coach that is convinced he can do it. Even with my doubts, I decided to give him a chance and let him know when he could come to practice. So I grabbed the phone and sat down on the couch ready to try and determine whether he could pole vault. His mother answered and said he wasn’t home so I told her when practice started and that he could show up a little early. I was a little excited I will admit, but I expected it to be some kid that thinks he can jump really high and that will get him through to a college. So when I saw a scrawny, freckled short little boy coming towards me at practice with a huge smile on his face, I was beyond disappointment.
    “Hey Mr. Sutten! I’m ready to start my training!” This just made me mad, the boy thinking he could walk on my grass, talk to me like that, and expected me to teach him how to vault.
    “What training?” I asked rudely very irritated that a fellow coach would waste my time like this. She told me that the student she was sending over was tall, athletic, and very respectful.
    “Well you’re the cross-country coach aren’t you?” Relief flooded my body and just then I saw another young man standing behind him watching the vaulters.
    “Sorry son, but I coach pole vaulting. The cross country team is on the other field.” And with that he trotted off along with my bad mood. I looked at the kid that was watching the jumpers with awe and sized him up. He was a large kid, probably over six feet, very muscular, looked like a regular high school jerk. He introduced himself to me very politely as Jeff Butler the one who plays volleyball but would like to become a decathlete. Now this was a kid that I liked and he was obviously the one that the volleyball coach had told me about.
    So I showed him how to hold the pole, how to plant it, how to run with it, and when it looked like he was ready to get on the runway, I let him loose. The first couple of runs were ok, until he really got ripping. At the end of the day, I told him that he was going to be a great pole vaulter and that I was sad he didn’t start freshmen year. He told me that he was excited about the sport and really loving it. A week later, I heard some of the other track boys and girls talking about him.
    “Did you hear about the new dude? He jumped nine feet!”
    “No he didn’t! That’s impossible! It was his first day!”
    “Dude, this kid is crazy good. He’s amazing. I bet you he’s gonna make CCS.”
    Now let me tell you something about pole vaulting. Most people aren’t strong enough to actually lift themselves up off the ground when they first start. In their second year most girls get about 8 feet or less. Sometimes more if she’s good. Most boys get about ten feet or less in their second year. On this kid’s first day, he jumped nine feet. This kid was going to be a legend. His teammates were already talking about him like he was this famous pole vaulter coming back from the Olympics. And he hadn’t even made CCS yet.
    We trained for the rest of the year, and when he became a senior, I helped get him on the track team for Cal Berkeley. Now he’s with one of the best track teams in the United States and he is still talked about. His younger sister attended my camp over the summer and came to one of my Sunday practices. I’m keeping an eye on her in case she turns out like her brother, and so far so good. During the Sunday session she was talking to a boy named Ben and when she told him that Jeff was her brother, he didn’t believe her. He told her how much of a legend her brother and I saw pride shining in her eyes at the thought that her brother was a legend.