Bayou Vault Club

BY DANNY GARRETT

The 2016 Rio Olympics have concluded. Michael Phelps added more gold to his collection; Katie Ledecky shattered the record books; and Team USA basketball continued its dominance.

Now, the Olympic torch has passed hands from Brazil to Japan. Another round of Olympians, as well as Olympics fans, awaits the 2020 games in East Asia.

Though the 2016 games have come to a close, training has not. The work has only begun for young athletes in training. For the Olympics, yes, but not just that. The Olympics are the sine qua non of athletic glory; it’s the pinnacle of achievement for many athletes.

But making it to the Olympics isn’t everyone’s goal, nor should it be. The Junior Olympics suffices. Winning a silver medal at a high school track meet will do. Competing in track meets in neighboring states works just fine. You’re having fun. You’re staying healthy. You’re in fellowship with your friends, and fellow track and field enthusiasts. Sometimes, it’s the mere love of the games that fills you up.

Cameron Meyer

There’s a place in Lake Charles, on the cusp of Grand Lake, where such athletic diversity meets.

The place is called the Bayou Vault Club. As is apparent from the club’s name, its focus is on the sport of pole vaulting, and it’s what the family-owned club caters to.

Timothy Meyer opened the club in January, 2016, as a gift to his son, Cameron Meyer. Cameron’s father always knew that his son wanted a pole vaulting club. The young Cameron spoke about the prospect incessantly while growing up. He continued to showcase his love for the sport by competing in pole vaulting meets across Louisiana and Texas for his college, Stephen F. Austin.

The love for sports runs in the family. Cameron’s dad threw javelin at Northeastern, now ULM, back in the 1980s.

Now that Cameron has graduated from SFA, he mainly operates the club. He’s the head coach. He’s Coach Meyer.

At the facility, the hours are flexible. The club is open Monday-Thursday, 6:45-8:15 pm. It’s also open on Sunday, 3:30-5 pm. The prices aren’t bad, either. The walk-in fee is $20, and the monthly membership is $120.

Coach Meyer loves the sport. When he describes it, he slightly lowers his head and becomes reflective, “When you’re out there, it’s you, the pole and the runway.” He teaches the same commitment and mental toughness to his players. The facility mostly caters to high school athletes, but college and middle school athletes can participate, as well. In fact, they do.

“It’s a sport of 1,000 reps,” according to Coach Meyer, so there tends to be overlap between teaching middle school and high school competitors. It’s the big three fundamentals: run, plant and swing. These fundamentals are reinforced by speed, agility and strength training.

The evidence is all around us. Aside from the orange and purple fiberglass poles that deck the walls — along with the characteristic runway, box and bar — hurdles, rings, swings and speed ladders populate the facility.

During their hour-and-a-half sessions, they do it all. Coach Meyer even teaches the distinctions between a fiberglass pole and a pole with a carbon, fiberglass mix: one is sturdier and slower; the other is lighter and quicker. One is suited for beginners; the other is suited for the seasoned athletes, and gives a psychological edge.

All the work pays off. The club competes in the Texas Elite Water Park Meet. They also compete in the Dauphin Street Meet in Mobile, Ala. And the club recently took about 10 of its members to the Junior Olympics. The athletes came from Westlake, St. Louis, Iowa, Hackberry, South Cameron and DeRidder.

Meyer soaring while competing in college

One of the club’s members, Adriano Theriot, signed with McNeese. This meant a lot to Coach Meyer, as his goal is to “coach as many athletes as I can, so they can stay in school and earn scholarships.”

There’s only one way for this club to go: up; and it continues to grow. Later this year, Canadian Olympian Anicka Newell will join the club as a coach.

Coach Meyer and Coach Newell are a couple. Meyer’s face lights up as he reminisces about when they first met two years ago at the 2014 Texas Elite Water Park Meet. While he jumped for SFA, she jumped for Texas State.

I asked Coach Meyer how Coach Newell did in Rio. He told me that she “wasn’t happy with her performance, and she felt she could have been …”

I started to chuckle before he finished his sentence; he followed suit. He and I both knew how much of a grand accomplishment it was for her to compete in Rio.

She, of course, agrees. While there’s disappointment about not performing at her best level after four years of training, there’s also that sublime since of accomplishment for making it so far. Coach Newell displayed her amazing talents in Rio, and she represented Canada, Ontario and Texas State well in the process.

So, there’s more wisdom and more expertise coming to the Bayou Vault Club. Coach Meyer, his dad and Coach Newell are a trio that will take Cameron and Calcasieu Parish athletes to new levels.