Shawn Miller
If you’ve been riding or racing for any length of time sooner or later you will hear about the declining state of Juniors racing in America. As for the causes for this decline, there will usually be as many opinions as there are people in the room or folks out on the ride at the time the topic comes up. They range from the cost and commitment required in order to succeed, to the lack of promotion and funding by USA Cycling and others. Whatever the reasons and there are likely many, the facts speak for themselves, the involvement of young people in competitive cycling in America is stagnant at best.
For 2001 the DBC Race Team hopes to turn this trend around, at least in our little neck of the woods. In 2000 there was an initial push by some in the general club and the race team to address this issue. We had some success but we need to move forward. For 2001 we have been blessed with the financial backing of the general club to go forward and try to formally establish a juniors program within the DBC race team. To that end the race team has forged ahead to establish a proposal for formally creating a juniors program. We’re off to a good start. We’re finalizing an alliance arrangement with the UC Davis Aggies Cycling Team to provide supervision on weekly scheduled juniors rides. Not only will this allow us to provide these kids with quality supervision, it will allow us to provide them with mentors in an age group that they generally look up to. We’re looking to include in the program some formal instruction from a certified elite level coach with ties to Carmichael Training Systems and USA Cycling. These items and the others that form the foundation for the program have been presented to the race team board for review and approval. In essence this proposal reflects the philosophy upon which the program will be built and a basic structure that will serve as the foundation for driving the program forward. As part of the process we have undertaken to build a simple, but useful budget for the program for 2001 in an effort to estimate the costs to be incurred and force us to think in detail about how best to spend our resources. I’m excited about the program and believe it can succeed. I will be heading the program in 2001 but there will be many that give of their time to make this a reality. There will no doubt be some “growing pains” as we get this off the ground but they are to be expected and we are prepared to deal with them.
At this point in time I’d like to thank the general club and the race team board for their willingness and vision in supporting this type of program. Along with the race team board, I’m currently finalizing the details of the items touched on above. If you have some interest in helping out or simply want to know more about the details of the program please let me know and I’ll be happy to drop you a line. Or, if you know of a junior age rider that you think might be interested in the program please let me know. Look for future information including a monthly event calendar, etc. on the race team web page at www.dbcraceteam.org.