Home

Our Mission

To help athletes with debilitating injuries/illness, through financial scholarships, achieve their academic goals in memory of the life of Kevin Dare – a legacy of integrity, inspiration, and indomitable spirit – to get Life…back on track.

Applications are due May 31st, 2012, and can be downloaded here.

The Foundation’s goal is to provide an opportunity to outstanding high school students, exhibiting the courage, strength, and fortitude to rise to the challenges of their situation and still have the determination and will to achieve the academic success that they had always hoped to accomplish. It is our hope that as scholarship recipients become alumni recipients, this inspirational group will, in turn, help to support others in achieving their dreams.

One of the most pressing needs to begin the mission is to allow schools, student athletes, and other applicable groups know that this kind of scholarship is available.  To launch the new initiative and garner support for funding the scholarship, the Foundation is planning The Kevin Dare Foundation Life…Back on Track World Record Memorial Run. From the plant box at the University of Minnesota, where Kevin lost his life, to the track facility of Penn State University, a team of elite runners will attempt to break the world record for the 1000 mile, 10-man relay.  The team of runners, made up of 10 elite athletes that are international representatives, All-Americans, Olympians, and Olympic Trials qualifiers will tackle the world record that stands at 99 hours, 3 minutes, and 27 seconds.

This record attempt and run is not just about completing the distance.  Kevin was a fierce competitor who, through extreme determination, pushed his body to reach his potential.  In memory and tribute to Kevin, these runners will take their bodies to the physical and mental edge, replicating in four days what Kevin strived for during his life, exemplifying Kevin’s legacy of integrity, inspiration, and indomitable will.

We hope you will visit  www.lifebackontrack.com  to learn more about this exciting run and how you can help.

Kevin’s Legacy

As an accomplished and experienced pole vaulter, Kevin James Dare loved to soar like an eagle. On February 23rd, 2002, Kevin, a sophomore at the Pennsylvania State University, was competing at the Big Ten Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships. Just before he went to make his first vault of the day, Kevin turned to his father, Ed, and said, “This is my day, Dad.” They were the last words that Kevin spoke before sprinting down the runway, planting his pole, and launching himself high into the sky.

Kevin died after hitting his head on the metal planting box where he had planted his pole for the jump.

After years of trying to further improve the safety mandates of the sport, prompting development and urging use of the world’s first approved pole vault –specific helmet, the world’s first SoftBox and trying to create awareness of the dangers and stricter safety standards needed for the sport, the Foundation realized that the true legacy of Kevin Dare could be found within how he lived his life, not just from the cause of the end of it.

With the ten year anniversary of Kevin’s passing, the Foundation is focusing its mission and fundraising efforts to help high school student athletes with debilitating injuries/illness, through financial scholarships, achieve their academic goals – the true legacy of Kevin Dare – a legacy of integrity, inspiration, and indomitable spirit – to help others to get life…back on track.

The Kevin Dare “Life…Back On Track” Scholarship

This scholarship is intended for high school student athletes that have suffered a debilitating injury or illness (examples: cancer, catastrophic injury) to help them achieve their academic goals at a four-year academic institution.

Kevin was known for supporting the underdog and standing up for what he believed was right. He was fiercely competitive and a high achiever. His family and the Foundation hope that his legacy of integrity, inspiration, and indomitable spirit can serve to motivate student athletes who find themselves facing new challenges and obstacles that have interrupted the track their lives were on. Overcoming and conquering life-changing events, while still having the courage and determination to attain a four year degree, takes a strength of will, spirit, and integrity that will exemplify the recipient of this scholarship. The Foundation is acknowledging the hard work and incredible sacrifices already made by this individual and feel that the candidate deserves to have one more obstacle smoothed away in their pursuit of getting life…back on track.

The Kevin Dare Memorial Fund Scholarship

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors through the years, the Foundation is pleased to announce that The Kevin Dare Memorial Fund Scholarship is now endowed. Please see our most recent recipient of this scholarship under our News & Updates.

Pole Vault Safety – KD Max Pro Pole Vaulting Helmet

The Kevin Dare Foundation will continue to provide free helmets that they helped develop to athletes and schools that cannot afford them.

The Kevin Dare Heart of a Lion Award

In memory of Penn State pole vaulter Kevin Dare, the Penn State Track and Field staff would like to introduce a new way of honoring Kevin. The “Kevin Dare Heart of the Lion” Award is being created to promote courage, sportsmanship and leadership in track and field. Penn State Track and Field asks that each competing team/coaching staff that attend the Kevin Dare Invitational each January nominate an athlete for the award, one boy and one girl winner to be determined from the nominees. Criteria to consider (but is not limited to):

  • Athletic Accomplishments
  • Courage
  • Sportsmanship
  • Leadership
  • Academic Success

Benefit Info

The Kevin Dare Memorial High School Invitational

Date: Saturday, January 21, 2012
Venue: Horace Ashenfelter III Track at the Penn State Multisport Facility, State College PA

One of the most highly anticipated high school track meets in the Northeast, the Kevin Dare Memorial High School Invitational is an indoor track and field competition held every year in memory of Kevin.

The meet was held January 21st on the newly resurfaced Horace Ashenfelter III Track and Penn State University.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 Kevin Dare Heart of a Lion award, Ryan Horgan of Holy Ghost Prep and Lizzy Shadle of Methacton High.

Full results from 2011 are available here.

News & Updates

2011/2012 Kevin Dare Memorial Scholarship

Congratulations to Jason Pelletier, a senior from Benton, Arkansas, on being made the recipient of the Kevin Dare Memorial Scholarship for the 2011/2012 academic year. Jason, a kinesiology major, is the men’s track team representative on the Student Athlete Advisory Board. He has a best vault of 16-10.25 and was a junior indoor national champion.

Being the recipient of the Kevin Dare Memorial Scholarship means so much to me. It is an honor to be supported by the amazing family at the Kevin Dare foundation, and it serves as a constant reminder to everyone of the importance of safety in our sport.

I have been so blessed to be involved in this amazing organization and cause for my four years as a recipient at Penn State. Their work in making pole vaulting safer in all ways is vital for all who participate and compete in this sport.

Every sport includes a certain level of inherent risk. However if our sport of pole vaulting is to move forward, and more importantly if we hope to keep all athletes safe, it is vital that every attempt at improving its safety be explored and constantly considered. Safer pole vaulting techniques and models, rules and regulations, and safety pads and equipment must be seriously considered and eventually standardized if our sport is to move forward safely.

Being on Kevin's scholarship reminds me to be safe every time I step on the runway. It reminds me that anything horrible can happen at any time. I am sure to do only what I am safe and confident doing, and make the best and most intelligent choices I can. That includes proper vaulting techniques, pole selections, pole vault mat design and placement, and the use of a soft-box. Without the support of the foundation, many of these safe practices would not be available to me.

While some pole vaulting equipment's efficacy is under debate, I can say from personal experience that a soft box feels the exact same as a regular box. If you replaced a hard box with a soft box and did not tell the vaulters, the only thing they might say is that it sounds different, if they say anything at all. You get on the same poles as with a hard box, but a soft-box could save your life. Soft boxes should be installed in every pit in the world.

–Jason Pelletier

2012 Golf Tournament

Get out your calendar and bookmark Monday, September 17, 2012 for the 2012 Kevin Dare Memorial Golf Tournament!

Our Sponsors

2011 Presenting Sponsor

Dick’s Sporting Goods

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Press

Coming soon…thanks for your patience