Day: October 12, 2005

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Kevin Dare Memorial Concert

Just to let you know that all my time isn’t spent at sporting events. Last night, after the State College High School girls soccer game I went to a memorial concert to benefit the Kevin Dare Scholarship Fund.

Kevin was a PSU pole vaulter (and former Tavern employee) who tragically died in a vaulting accident at the 2002 Big Ten Track and Field Championships. His family has established the Dare Foundation which is dedicated to making pole vaulting a safer sport.

Kevin was a wonderful young man who truly has not died in vain. In just a few short years his father’s dedication has resulted in significant technology advances in pole vaulting safety. The next step is to get these technology advances adopted by the vaulting community. Toby Stevenson won an Olympic Silver Medal wearing one of the Dare helmets but in general most vaulters haven’t yet embraced them.

The technology of the KDMax helmet is also extending to other fields. The Penn State football team among others is now using helmets cushioned by the same material as pole vaulting helmet. It appears that Kevin’s tragic death will have a far reaching positive effect on the safety of others.

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more Fall sports news


Greetings. Here in Utah the soccer playoffs have begun. The Judge Memorial Bulldogs face a difficult task of returning to the State Championship game. Last year we were runner-ups to Park City (who are currently ranked number 12 in the country). We were State Champs in 2002 and 2003. Park City are the heavy favorites this year, they are led by a midfielder who is on the U-19 national team.

This year has been rougher than the last few. Three starters have gone down with season ending ACL injuries. Our second leading scorer broke her arm last week, and her doctor’s say she’s done for the year. Natalie has been plattooned at center mid, forward or outside mid…and it’s been difficult for her to win a starting spot despite the injuries. The head coach has started a youth movement, the freshman and sophomores are in many cases as good or better than the upper classmen. Last night Nats played about half the game…where her great passing skills were on display in our first round victory (5 to 1 over Millard). But this weekend we travel five hours to St. George for our quarterfinal matchup against an unbeated Dixie squad. Two more wins and we make it to the finals, which would mean a likely rematch with the hated Park City team.

We’ll keep you posted.