It's a change for a lot of people. It takes an open mind to get used to girls vaulting. But now, everybody sees girls take to the vault and they're steadily getting better at it. I have two girls on my team, and another six on the junior high team. When they're trained right, they can do it.
Girls use lighter poles than boys, as pole weight is matched to body weight.
Coaches said swimmers or gymnasts take to vaulting the quickest. And what's really hard is learning how to get the pole in the pit the right way. Everybody has accidents and crashes into the pits or falls trying to plant. What makes things great is we get to try again. They're all good, strong athletes, who are quick runners but not the fastest.