Sports, crafts, foreign languages–-classes that can fill your kids’ day and teach them new skills is a long list. Athletics, better known as track and field, has an array of events that make that list longer and choosing harder for parents, guardians, or the titas/titos and ninangs/ninongs who are willing to spend moolah on their favorite younglings.

Sprints were once the most popular athletics event, but thanks to Asian Games gold medalist and Olympian EJ Obiena, the pole vault is gaining popularity. How can one get into this sport? And how much does it all cost?

Ease your kid into it

Emerson Obiena, EJ’s dad and coach of the Philippine athletics team, has witnessed how athletics is naturally appealing to kids. For this reason, it’s the adults who need to make sure they’re eased into the sport the right way, so they stick it out and not quit.

“’Yung mga ginagamit ng elite or mature athletes, hindi puwedeng gamitin sa mga bata na nagde-develop pa lang,” Obiena, a former pole vaulter himself who won two silver medals and two bronze medals at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, told 8List in an exclusive interview. “For example, letting an 8-year-old or a 10-year-old kid run 10 times 200 meters, paulit-ulit. It’s gonna be boring for them. Dapat make it more fun.”

Get a good coach

A bored kid is not productive. Couple that boredom with overtraining and it’s a recipe for disaster. Even Coach Emerson faced such struggles while coaching a teenage EJ. The older Obiena served as EJ’s official mentor until he was 18 years old.

This is where signing up for a good coach comes in. Coach Emerson said it’s ideal for kids to start pole vaulting at eight to nine years old, and a capable coach would know how to connect with kids at this age. The right coach can engage the kids despite shorter attention spans and set the right expectations.

“It’s very rough modelling. ‘Yung movement nila, very rough din. Hindi ka magiging metikuloso doon sa galaw nila nang naaayon sa technical model,” said Obiena. “Para silang clay. You shape them slowly. You don’t put details first.”

So, how much does pole vaulting cost?

Apart from mentorship, a coach or program (e.g. school) helps in providing access to pole vault equipment and facilities. Coach Emerson and the national team usually hold training at Pasig’s PhilSports Complex, aka Ultra. This is also their usual venue for beginner classes, where the rates per session vary. But as a way of paying it forward, Coach Emerson and his peer coaches sometimes conduct free sessions. Other times, they charge just for equipment and logistics, which costs around P500 per pax.

Coaches usually bring their poles to these sessions to lend to the beginners. A pole can cost anywhere between P20,000 to P35,000. Custom-grade poles, like the ones used by Olympians like EJ, cost much more. When kids grow and progress in skill, they will also need longer poles. So, it’s more cost-efficient for beginners to borrow poles from the pros.

As for attire, any comfortable outfit works. Shoes? There are various track shoes in the market, and Coach Emerson says those priced at P2,100 to P2,200 are decent enough.

If it’s not pole vault, there are many other athletics events like sprints, hurdles, and long jumps that might entice one’s kid.

“Athletics are incredibly appealing to kids because they offer a wide range of events that cater to different interests and physical abilities,” said Djundi Biñas, another former national athlete turned national team coach. He’s also a World Athletics L2-certified jumps coach.

But if your kid is set on pole vault, now’s an opportune time as Coach Emerson and the Philippine Pole Vault Club are holding a clinic for beginners on September 14-15 in Pasig. It’s open to anyone aged 10 years or older.

With the path that EJ Obiena has carved, perhaps the Philippines can become the next athletics powerhouse.

Would you try pole vaulting?