ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – On a quiet street in the Switzerland neighborhood, people may notice a red, grey, and navy blue flag outside a home, which will lead them to the “FL Pole Vault Factory,” a business dedicated to bringing more attention to the sport and helping produce more elite Olympic-level athletes.
Jason Dean, the factory’s owner who is a former collegiate pole vaulter, opened the business in 2019 and has been coaching people in the sport for years.
“Promoting awareness of this sport number one, but number two is to keep the kids who do it safe,” Dean said.
One of those kids is Barton, who has been coming to the Pole Vault Factory for three years.
“He likes to just get a little wild in the air, and I would say he’s more controlled now, and he can control his body a little bit better in space,” Dean explained before getting into the science of pole vaulting.
“There’s definitely more than one way to pole vault, but every single jump encompasses all of the same things,” he said. “You gotta be fast on the runway to generate energy into the pit, you gotta be strong to maneuver the pole into where you want it to go, and you gotta be fearless, man.”
Dean says he’s coached students to compete at the collegiate level, but said he’d love to coach an elite or Olympic-level athlete.
Until then, he’ll continue to get joy from seeing his students continuing to get better every day.
“That’s honestly why you do, to see that joy in their face when they actually do it and PR, which is a personal record,” Dean said. “That’s great.”
Dean says if anyone is interested in the sport of pole vaulting, it’s better to start perfecting your skills sooner rather than later.