Jake Spotswood balances full-time job with coaching for Olympic trials

Rising up in Fairhope, Alabama, Spotswood says he was all the time a daredevil, spending a lot of his time cliff leaping and wakeboarding. So when he noticed “children launching themselves with a pole” at his native highschool in seventh grade, his curiosity was instantly piqued.

“I simply went dwelling to my mother and father and was like, ‘The place can I do pole vaulting?'” he recollects. “It seems, the highschool I used to be going to had this sturdy pole vault program, and never many excessive faculties have that. It was this bizarre factor that simply labored out completely.”

Spotswood quickly fell in love with sprinting, lifting and throwing himself by way of the air. He was recruited by the College of Alabama as a decathlete, the place he competed in 10 occasions starting from the lengthy bounce to the 400-meter sprint. By his senior yr, he had turn into first-team NCAA All-American, broke a number of college information and helped his group win an SEC Championship.

After graduating from Alabama with a bachelor’s diploma in enterprise administration in 2021, Spotswood used two further years of NCAA eligibility that he obtained by way of the Covid-19 pandemic and by redshirting his sophomore yr to attend grad college at Virginia Tech. There, he continued to smash college information, win a silver medal on the ACC Championships and earn second-team NCAA All-American.

However a yr earlier than hanging up his school spikes, catastrophe struck on his final rep of lengthy bounce coaching.

“Proper after I bounce, my heel slips on the takeoff and my spikes catch the monitor, my foot rolls inward and proper after I got here off the bottom, I knew I had tousled fairly, fairly dangerous,” he says. “I cracked my fibula in two locations in half, broke a pair bones in my foot, ruptured some ligaments, dislocated some tendons.”

What adopted was surgical procedure and an extended rehabilitation course of that Spotswood knew would demand his full focus if he needed to return to the monitor. He was in a position to compete in his remaining season, putting fourth on the ACC Championships and serving to his group win a convention championship.

“Each rehab session, each time I went to have a meal or I went to sleep, it was reminding myself of my potential and what I wish to accomplish,” he says. “It actually taught me learn how to have aggressive persistence, which suggests do not simply sit again and await one thing to occur. Put the work in. Be lively, however know that it is going to take some time to get to the place you wish to go.”

Whereas Spotswood was in a position to get better from his harm and finish his collegiate profession on a excessive observe, it led him to sit down down and assume laborious about his future in athletics. This deliberation introduced Spotswood again to what had all the time been a particular occasion to him, whilst a child — pole vaulting.

After graduating from Virginia Tech, Spotswood determined to focus solely on skilled pole vaulting and hopes to qualify for the Olympic trials in June.

To qualify for the trials, he should bounce 5.55 meters — simply over 18 toes. Spotswood says he is presently within the high 40 within the U.S. for pole vaulting, with the highest 24 athletes advancing to the trials. From there, three are chosen to compete in Paris.

“This season, already I set a private greatest within the pole vault, persevering with to enhance,” he says. “And I am simply having enjoyable with it.”

As Spotswood places all his focus into leaping larger, getting quicker and advancing his method, he is aware of that his social life does not look something like that of the common 20-something.

“You simply sort of have to simply accept that you’ll conduct your self in another way than most individuals do,” he says. “I am going to work, I am going straight to the monitor, do not miss a day of coaching after which at evening I am simply making an attempt to construct my model… You simply have to simply accept that it is going to be nonstop.”

Being an expert athlete could seem glamorous, however for a lot of pole vaulters, the game does not pay the payments.

To help his season, Spotswood drew on a talent he had already been cultivating for the reason that NCAA started permitting school athletes to revenue off their identify, picture and likeness: constructing his private model. 

He now has almost 100,000 followers throughout his social media platforms, the place he creates content material about balancing his profession with coaching and staying slot in your 20s.

“When it is a non-revenue producing sport, you simply need to get artistic,” he says. 

Spotswood presently has 4 sponsorships funding his season, which usher in a mixed $3,000 a month. He spends his nights after coaching enhancing his social content material earlier than heading to mattress round 11 p.m.

His social media following has additionally helped him launch an internet private coaching enterprise, the place he builds customized health and vitamin applications for purchasers who pay $320 a month for one-on-one teaching. The enterprise has helped him transcend model offers and provide his personal providers to followers.

Spotswood makes use of the weekends to construct out his purchasers’ weekly plans and takes shopper calls within the evenings after leaving the monitor. He hopes to increase the enterprise slowly, working as much as 20 purchasers and ultimately hiring assist to handle it.

In January, he earned about $1,400 from private coaching. He expects his revenue from the enterprise to fluctuate month-to-month, relying on what number of purchasers he works with.

Here is how Spotswood spent his cash in January 2024. 

• Investments: $3,000 towards two funding accounts
• Housing and utilities: $700 for hire, together with Wi-Fi, warmth, water and electrical energy
• Insurance coverage: $485 for automobile and life insurance coverage
• Transportation: $471 for subway tickets, fuel, parking and EZPass, plus a $99 carry-on bag cost
• Meals: $251 for groceries and eating out
• Discretionary: $184 for items, donations, buying and a haircut
• Subscriptions and memberships: $108 for Oura Ring, Audible, CapCut and Apple storage subscriptions

As quickly as Spotswood receives his consulting paycheck, he transfers half of it to his financial savings account. From there, he invests $3,000 a month, sending $1,800 to an Acorns account and $1,200 to a Fundrise account. His 401(ok) holds round $1,200.

Spotswood lives with three different roommates in a townhouse in Fairfax. His $700 month-to-month hire contains utilities and Wi-Fi. He is on his mother and father’ medical insurance till September and stays on his household cellphone plan. He additionally pays $475 for automobile insurance coverage two occasions a yr on a automobile that his mother and father gave him when he graduated from highschool.

Spotswood is ready to maintain his month-to-month meals invoice low by buying low cost groceries like canned tuna and Greek yogurt for lunch, whereas weeknight dinners are lined by Roots Pure Kitchen, one among his sponsors, which he creates content material for in change for 30 meals a month.

George Mason College gives a $250 per diem to cowl his meals bills whereas on the highway with the monitor and area group. Coaching at George Mason’s services additionally means no expensive fitness center subscription.

Spotswood has managed to stay debt-free by paying off his bank card each couple of days and utilizing athletics to fund his schooling.

He began out on the College of Alabama with a small scholarship and was quickly in a position to negotiate extra help to pay for all of his education. When it got here time to search for grad faculties, getting a full scholarship was front-of-mind, and Virginia Tech supplied each a full journey and a very good monitor and area program.

“I advised myself I am not going to go to grad college until I can get it paid for and help myself whereas I am there,” he says. “I’ve all the time thought that was an enormous deal, to graduate with no debt and mainly simply have a head begin.”

After 12 years of pole vaulting, 2024 is probably going Spotswood’s final dance. However earlier than hanging up his spikes, he needs to see how a lot he can accomplish and whether or not he can qualify for the Olympic trials. 

He plans to proceed constructing his well being and health model, utilizing his social media to indicate that it is doable to pursue your profession targets and keep wholesome.