The Meaning of Oz + Games We Play

The Meaning of Oz
I'm out of town on business tomorrow so here's what I wanted to post. I've gotten a few questions about why "Oz" is in the title of this blog. Quite simply, Australians call their country "Oz" and themselves "Ozzies". And as we learned from the good witch in The Wizard of Oz, "Oz" is also a state of mind.

I have some pretty good Ozzie connections but this will be my first trip there. In 1992, after their housing connections fell out, two Australian Olympic pole vaulters, Simon Arkell and Adam Steinhardt, lived and trained with us for the last three months before they went to the 1992 Olympic Games. In 1996, Simon came back and trained with us again before the Atlanta Olympics. He is still a great friend to this day.

At the 1996 Olympics, Simon's longtime personal coach, Alan Launder came to visit practice and could not get in. I was one of two coaches selected to assist all of the Olympic vaulters so I got him in for the day and that began a long friendship. In fact, Alan was just in The Woodlands this summer doing a pole vault clinic and signing copies of his bestselling book on pole vaulting, "From Beginner to Bubka". He also coached me at the Quintana Beach Vault. With 60 years in the sport I see and talk to Alan any time I can. He will fly over from Adelaide to Sydney to be my coach for the World Masters Games.

Games We Play
NOTE - What we compete in is generally called "Masters Athletics". We call it "Track & Field" but the rest of the world calls it "Athletics". We compete in five year age groups so I am in the M55-59 since I am 56. Masters officially starts at 40 years old. Athletes younger than that are allowed to compete (not in worlds) but called "Submasters". If you are 50 you enter a division called "Seniors". There are seniors only meets like the National Senior Games/Olympics.

There are a number of championship meets that we attend. Here is the list and their frequency;
1) Each year USA Track & Field hosts an Indoor National Championship in March and an Outdoor National Championship in late July or August. It's the two times we know we get to see our friends from around the country. USA Track & Field is the governing body of our Olympic Team as well and in international competitions, like Australia, we wear USA uniforms issued by them.
2) Every odd year there are World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships. This summer they just completed those games in Lahti, Finland. In 2001 they will be in Sacramento, California. As the name describes, these are only "Athletics" and no other sports.
3) Every even year there are World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. Next March these will be in Kamloops, Canada. This blog may actually continue to there.
4) Every odd year we have the National Senior Games - 18 sports with over 10,000 athletes. We just finished these at Stanford University. In 2001 they will come to Houston.
5) World Masters Games, which I am training for, are every four years and offer 28 Olympic sports with over 28,000 athletes beginning at age 30. This year we will compete in the stadium where the 2000 Olympics were held. This will be the third Olympic Stadium I have vaulted in as I won twice at meets in Mexico City, jumped in Atlanta, and now will compete in Sydney.

All of these offer you the opportunity to see the absolute best age group athletes in the world. It keeps you hungry yet humble. Most importantly, a reason to work out.

Have a great day! Bubba