Born from a passion of pole vault and always pursuing greatness, Pole Vault Elite was founded in 2007 by Collin Gayde with the help of Joe Herron as Indy’s premier pole vault club. Evolving out of Joe’s backyard and now having a more than an acre of land, the duo have established a fun, safe, laid-back environment where athletes of all ages flock to break down their vault and make break throughs in technique and skills during summer months.
Throughout the years, Collin and Joe have collected an array of equipment that is available to all club members for supervised use during club practices. Pole Vault Elite’s equipment currently includes: three pole vault pits, three separate 100+ foot board runways, an expansive collection of carbon and fiberglass poles, standards to accommodate vaulters from 5′ to 18′, high bar, rings, trampoline, a pulley system for inversion drills, ropes, swings rack, and a Bubka bar. The wide variety of equipment allows athletes to target their weaknesses and improve upon them at each club session.
Pole Vault Elite will start club sessions in June and usually run through October. Club sessions are comprised of no more than 10 athletes per runway and at least a 1:7 coach-to-athlete ratio. Each session will typically last around two hours. Athletes will begin their session with warm ups on their own, followed by drills and training specified to their jump. While some athletes may spend an entire session on the runway, others may spend less time jumping and more time working on technique on the rings, high bar or Bubka bar. Athletes are supervised at all times by Pole Vault Elite coaches during club sessions. To meet the Pole Vault Elite coaches, please visit About the Coaches.
Club Members are given the opportunity to compete around the Indy area in various summer meets, when available. Additionally, Pole Vault Elite travels to two major meets each summer: Grand Haven Beach Vault and the Indiana State Fair Vault. Both meets are insanely fun and memories in the making for athletes, parents, and coaches alike. To wrap up the club season, Pole Vault Elite hosts a costume vault in October to celebrate Halloween and the end of another summer making break throughs in the vault.