Coach Eric Fraley graduated from Valley Christian in 2003. He shared, "I started pole vaulting my freshman year of high school after my dad (Perry) convinced me to give it a shot. He said he would coach me if I decided to do it. He had pole vaulted in high school and college and he really thought I would enjoy it. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the sport! I broke the freshman record at VC, and I scored at the state championship meet my freshman and sophomore years. I was the state champion in pole vault my junior year. Unfortunately I had to have shoulder surgery my senior year for a football related injury." Eric then went on to play football in college at Trinity International University and Azusa Pacific University where he earned a Bachelors degree in Business..
Eric married his high school sweetheart, Laura, in 2006. They have known each other since 4th grade and both graduated from VC in 2003. Together they have four boys who keep them busy! Eric and Laura both work at their family business that manufactures hard-alloy aluminum extrusions for the aerospace industry (Falco).
Eric's favorite things to do outside of coaching are wakesurfing/wakeboarding and golfing. The fact that his boys enjoy those things as well makes doing them that much more enjoyable.
In 2009 Eric joined coaching pole vault at VC. Over the following 6 seasons the program had multiple state champions and school record holders. Fraley shared, "I had the privilege of coaching my cousins Caleb and Chandler when they were at VC. At one point Chandler was the number 1 vaulter in the state. She broke the school record and won the state championship. I coached through the spring of 2014. At that point I had 3 kids at home with the 4th on the way. It was just too much of a time commitment to keep coaching at that time so I stepped away."
Eric's dad, Perry, resumed his head coaching duties for several years until Chandler returned after college and took over the head coaching duties. Fast forward 10 years and Coach Eric's oldest son, Brayden, was a freshmen at VC, so he decided to get back into coaching pole vault. Eric shared, "The only issue was Brayden didn't have any interest in pole vaulting. Fortunately, I was able to convince him to give it a shot for one season to see if he liked it (similar to what my dad did for me). Brayden ended up getting 4th place at the state championship meet and beat my freshman best by about 2 inches. Needless to say, he was hooked. It was also a blast getting to coach WITH my cousin Chandler after year of being her coach."
After the 2024 season Chandler informed Coach Eric that it was time for her to step away as she has her own young ones at home, and the demand of coaching was too much for now. Eric shared, "I look forward to the day her kids get to high school and she is able to rejoin me in coaching. I have 4 boys and they have all shown interest in pole vaulting now. I can't wait to see how they progress over the coming years."
Fraley expressed, "I absolutely LOVE coaching pole vault! We have seen great success as a program over the years. I'd be willing to wager that there are less than 5 schools in the state (regardless of school size/division) that have a combined school record (male and female) over 30 ft like VC does. (Boys school record - 17'1" and Girls school record - 13'1") It is a blast to coach these great athletes and to see their progression over the years. I was nervous about coming back to coach after the 10 year hiatus, but it all came back to me quickly. I can't wait to see what the future holds as each of my boys grow older and go through the program. I look forward to continuing the strong tradition we have created with pole vaulting at VC!"
