Andrew Boyce’s mission: Promote vaulting as ‘extreme sport’
![]() Andrew Boyce
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Track and field was the original “extreme sport.” But the X-Games perverted the meaning. “Action” sports like skateboarding and BMX stole our brand! Now Andrew Boyce, an M40 jumper as crazy as the snowboard nuts, wants to reclaim the crown of “extreme” for its true king: pole vaulting. Andrew’s recent video showing him vaulting onto a roof to fetch a Frisbee is the first in a series of clips devoted to adding sex appeal to the sport. Sayeth Andrew: “I would like to get one of the pole companies (or extreme sport
companies) to sponsor this venture as it will double demand for poles
in the U.S. and world when Extreme Vaulting catches on. Extreme
Vaulting will only add to the sport and increase the audience watching
track and field.” The IAAF may not approve, but wacky street runs like Usain Bolt’s in Manchester make it possible to rethink the vault as well.
Andrew expands on his ideas in this quickie Q&A:
Masterstrack.com: Tell me all about your vaulting onto the roof video.
Andrew Boyce: I have a revolutionary idea brewing in my head. I believe that pole vaulting can and will become a much larger sport in the U.S. I think it can be looked at in a different way and made into an indoor and outdoor extreme
sport. I believe that, in doing so, it will bring great attention to the sport of track & field. I will be demonstrating some of these activities in the future.I would like to get one of the pole companies (or extreme sport companies) to sponsor this venture as it will double demand for poles in the U.S. and world when Extreme Vaulting catches on. Extreme Vaulting will only add to the sport and increase the audience watching track and field. I cannot accomplish this on my own, however.
Pole vaulting on my house was the first of a series of shorts leading up to the
“Extreme Vaulting” demonstrations. I had to see if I had the nerve and lack of
brains to jump at something with only a hope of landing somewhere. I did it!Who shot it? When? Where? Who are the cute kids?
The film was shot by myself and the director of photography Frank Grumeretz that I used for my film “Ballbusters.” We shot it in August at my house in West Dundee, Illinois. I did not think anyone else would allow me to use there house; you know — liability and all. The beautiful kids are mine — Alexandra (7) and
Domenic (9). They love doing these kinds of things and will be in the Christmas
video being shot in December. You don’t see my wife, Victoria, in them as she is
sometimes holding a camera or coaching the kids.How did you plant the pole?
I borrowed a box from my friend Jeff Watry who works at Gill. I dug a hole underneath the front bush, (yeah, my wife loved that) and so it appears that I
plant the pole in the bush. It was there, just not visible.What kind of pole did you use?
I used a Pacer 14′ 6 – 175. You know it was really a rush. There was local media there taking pictures for an article. (See article here.) The neighbors were standing around watching. It’s not something you can practice. It’s do or die, literally. Nothing to land on but the roof. While sprinting towards the house, your body and mind are screaming “No,” but you power through it anyway.
What gave you the idea to jump on the roof?
I saw a video of this kid in college jump over a car. He got on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and a Nike contract. Accomplishing something like that would be great for business and I knew I could jump over a car, so I did but made a little short out of it. She still has not had me on the show, and I am twice that kid’s age!
The funny thing is I never started pole vaulting until I was 35 years old. I never competed in high school or college, but now love it. It has been very difficult as I have had four surgeries on my right knee. I jumped all through high school, college and the first 8 or 9 years of the masters program on my right leg. After the fourth surgery, I switched everything over to my left and now high jump, long jump and pole vault off my left.
Where will you compete in 2010?
I am currently training for my next competition and video production in December
at the University of Chicago. I will be competing in the indoor national meet
at Boston in March and a number of indoor meets leading up to nationals. I love (Boston’s) indoor track and want to compete in the other events.And what’s your all-time bests in the vault, HJ and LJ?
I pole-vaulted 14-2 in 2009. As I stated earlier, I did not start until I was 35 years old. I plan on going much higher! I high jumped 7-1 and long jumped 23-8 in college.
Where did you jump as a kid?
I grew up on a farm in Iowa. My dad was a good long jumper in high school and wanted the best for us. So he dug us a sand pit on the farm. We used to jump into it all the time. He was also a welder, so he built us some standards and we would high jump onto an old box spring and mattress. I broke and held records in high school in Rockwell City, Iowa. I finished high school in Illinois in a little town called Aledo. I also hold the records there.
And your current gig?
Right now I am a special education teacher at a high school outside of Chicago. I coach track and field and am looking to take a sabbatical and make films for entertainment and promotion. Track and field saved my life when I was younger — would not have gone to college without it. So I want to bring positive attention to the sport through film and hopefully the development of Extreme Vaulting. Any help I could acquire towards that end would be greatly appreciated.
19 Responses
It reminds a film of Buster Keaton, ‘College’, where he vaults into a window at the second floor. Actually that was one of the very rare tricks Buster didn’t do himself. The stand-in was an Olympian vaulter.
1. Pretty amazing stuff; when I get the time I will show my nieces what people in masters T&F can do (actually, what Andrew Boyce can do).
2. Andrew reports that he “high jumped 7-1 and long jumped 23-8 in college.” That’s quite a high jump. Question: At which college or university did he compete?
3. Boston 2010: Now that we know Andrew will be competing we are only 899 away from making Boston the second national indoor masters to draw at least 900 contestants. Landover, Maryland, became the first in 2009, but unfortunately the timing unit there was weak. Boston has strong timing and excellent lap counting. Can the masters program draw over 900 to Boston next March? If not, why not?
Meets would be bigger if they were more centrally located in my opinion. Why put the majority of national indoor and outdoor meets on both coasts?
I’ve been vaulting since I was 12 and I would never attempt what he did. Too scared! Awesome!! We need guys like him. Bubba
“It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt” – Someone’s Mother
Goes against the whole saftey intiative…we have to remember that the vault is always an accident away from being dropped in many high schools.
Wade Sorenson wrote: “Meets would be bigger if they were more centrally located in my opinion. Why put the majority of national indoor and outdoor meets on both coasts?”
Because no one else seems to want to or is able to host them. One has to take over an indoor facility for 3 full days, not something most colleges will allow (the reason the meet first came to Boston). And if so, the rental cost is steep.
On topic, extreme vaulting, given the liability issues with standard vanilla pole vaulting, along with lack of really good coaching to begin with, I’m not one to cheer this “development”. Not something I’d welcome into TF proper.
Start by bringing back the old-time events like pole vault for distance, and 56lb weight throw for height.
Steve V
I have not heard much about this pole vault for distance, please explain that to me. That is one of the key thoughts I had. Are there any old videos I could watch? Can you point me to information on it? Thanks for all the comments.
As for the “one injury away from being dropped in all high schools” comment… I am a teacher in a high school(over 10 years now) and have been an administrator for four years. Our high schools are looking for excuses to drop programs, this I would agree. But the real underlying reason is not the danger, just money.
In the heart of every boy / man is the desire for challenge and danger.. risk of some kind. We are adventurous, obviously some more than others. There were many, many safety precautions taken in this stunt and I had to wait for the perfect day.. It definitely is not for everyone, but neither is pole vaulting or other extreme sports. Thanks for the comment Mother! I hear you!
Steve deserves a TON of credit for why Boston keeps taking and getting big meets. INCREDIBLE and consistent excellence. They already have the schedule up for USATF Masters Indoors in March. Spokane, Oshkosh and Stanford couldn’t give you that info within a month out. Way to go Steve!! Bubba
andrew put a huge grin on my face when i tuned in to his video. in my younger days( early twenties), after playing softball in a league i played a part in founding..at the time a beer league…the loser buys the keg…we bought a lot of kegs…my buddies would get me to race their fastest guy, or to jump over a car…long jump style…everybody loved it .i laughed when i saw his videos. no doubt about it…this guy’s on fire and a great shot in the arm for masters track and field…i’ve always admired polevaulters for their crazy ,fearless spirit. being a hurdler ,and jumper, i am only half crazy. my knees have been problematic, but andrew has me thinking about boston in march…keep it up, and god bless andrew boyce and his family
Andrew,
Search on “Parkour” on YouTube and check out the videos that come up. If you can integrate pole vaulting into a Parkour style video, you’ll have a hit. Your chief competitor in high jump, Karl Hawke, does Parkour style jumping. He has a YouTube video of him jumping off a roof…without a pole.
Hey Al,
As I said in the interview, I have had four surgeries on my right knee. Two reconstructions and two scopes. I find the more that I use them the better they feel and I do not take anything for pain. (yet) I hope to see you in Boston and would encourage anyone who is thinking about it to get signed up. They have a beautiful track and indoor facility! Lets shoot for 1000!
Thanks
Bubba,
If we had our way, there would be start times for each event at USA Indoor, not just a start time for the day. The past time schedules have worked just fine for 10 years, but that’s a games committee decision to not post the full timeline til the week before the meet.
SV
Andrew,
Checking the oldest rulebook I have (1937), there is only the following
RThe rules governing the Running Broad Jump shall also ggovern teh Pole Vualt for Distance, except that when the man leaves the ground successive “balks” shall be counted as a trial jump.”
So, plant before the scratch line, become a projectile, and mark from the first point of contact at landing.
One might think the PV for distance rules would fall under the rule book’s other “special events” like the three legged race, sack race, running high dive from springboard, running high kick, potato race, and tug of war (with and without cleats) but it’s not there.
SV
There is a traditional rural kind of pole long jump in a part of my country. See the English wikipedia, under the Frisian name: fierljeppen (far leap – Frisian is a closer relative of English than Dutch). They jump over a ditch or canal and it is allowed to climb into the pole.
Agree with Andrew Boyce that 2010 Boston meet should have a target of 1000 competitors — that would be an all-time record.
Agree with Steve Vaitones (who would know much better than I) that other facilities just can’t or won’t step up. Tried University of Arkansas myself (apparently an A-rated facility) because I had an “in.” The gentleman there told me there was no chance. Someone else mentioned Univ of Nebraska (Lincoln), but I didn’t try there. Let’s see what I can remember about past sites off the top of my head:
1993: Bozeman, Montana. Attendance was beyond deplorable (300). Never went to Bozeman again.
1994: Columbia, Missouri. Decent facility at Univ of Mo., meet never went there again.
1995: Reno, Nevada. Some sort of wooden track there; never seen again.
1996: Greensboro, NC: Sprint straightaway was too hard (Bill Collins got injured); regular track was too steep. Never returned.
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004: Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. All good meets.
2005 Nampa, Idaho. Attendance was poor (under 600). Never saw Nampa again.
2006, 2007, 2008 Boston. Good meets.
2009 Landover, Maryland: Good meet in some ways; timing was terrible. Track was flat. Largest attendance ever, no doubt due to the huge population living within 350 miles of facility.
2010 Boston. Will be good meet.
2011 and future: Will we have any meets? Don’t know, maybe something has been done about 2011.
Sum up: Hope I didn’t do any misremembering; we used to go to a variety of sites; now we usually stay at home (Boston). Virtually no one wants this meet.
Hmmmm..wonder what can be done.
Entertainment value! I think that there are a lot of 30 something athletes who take sebaticals from track for a while in there early 30’s. I for one, would love to see more of them show up and compete. (how to get them to stay involved) I would also like to see more social events during the meet where we can all get together and just talk. The big dinner is nice, but designate a place every evening after the event for athletes to just meet and talk (and heal).
There are a ton of college indoor facilities in the midwest that if they were approached would accomodate the Masters indoors.
I think I will try to vault through a window next summer. Might be the window on the first floor though! 🙂
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