Kevin Jonas Reveals His Pole-Vaulting Past On 'When I Was 17'

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'People laughed at me for a while about that one,' the pop star says of his track days.

These days, Kevin Jonas makes a living as a pop star along with his superstar brothers, Joe and Nick. But there was a time when Kevin had to mow lawns for pocket money and, back in his after-school days, Kevin was a member of the track team. Yes, Kevin Jonas used to be a jock.
"When I was 17, my favorite sport was pole vaulting," Kevin recalled in this week's episode of MTV's "When I Was 17," which also features stories from Katharine McPhee and Bret Michaels. "Freshman year of high school, my history teacher actually asked me. He's like, 'You're going to join the track team. You should be a pole vaulter.' "
After some skepticism about doing it and initially being confused by what was expected of him as a pole vaulter, Kevin quickly changed his mind. "I was like, 'Oh, OK. Whatever.' And then I realized what pole vaulting was," he remembered. "And I was like, 'Yes! Please!' "
In the episode, Kevin's uncle Josh shared just how much Kevin enjoyed the sport. "He loved it — he loved the challenge, always tried to go higher, the extra next level."
Now, Kevin spends his time at "Camp Rock," but back in the day at high school in New Jersey, it was all about Camp Track. "Pole vaulting was my passion. I even went to a pole-vaulting camp, yeah," he said. "People laughed at me for a while about that one, but it was cool."

When I Was 17" — this week featuring Kevin Jonas, Bret Michaels and Katharine McPhee — airs Saturday at 11 a.m. on MTV.