Bill Warburton

Hey everyone, this email is in 2 parts. Info about the meeting coming up and
a longer discussion of Junior Development in Bend.

For those outside Central Oregon, please read and get in touch if you want
to discuss similar programs in your community.

The Meeting:

The Bend Endurance Academy will have an information meeting for all
interested Athletes and Parents on March 9, at 7:00pm at our office.

Who should attend?

- *Parents* of children who want to ride bikes with us this summer
- Kids themselves under 12 do not need to attend unless they want to ride
in a Development Program
- *Competition* and *Development* Team *Athletes* and *Parents *(ages 12
and up)
- *COCC* riders who want to race mountain, road or cyclocross
- Those interested in High School Cycling Programs

Meeting Agenda:

- Explain the programs we offer: COCC Club, Competition, Development,
Mighty Bikes, Mini Bikes
- Explain the disciplines we offer: cross-country mountain bike, freeride
mountain bike, road, cyclocross, track
- New additions for 2011: revised Freeride Team, added travel and trips
for all ages, and
- Wednesday After School Program: April - June, 7 weeks of awesome
riding! Road, Mountain and Cyclocross Bikes welcome.
- Competition Team sign-up, we'll start March 15. This is the Full Time
program, T, W, Th, F, S, S from March 15 - August 30 for Road and Mountain
- Development Team sign-up, Devo is broken up into smaller sessions
(about 10 weeks each) to allow movement between levels and disciplines.
- Mighty Bikes / Mini Bikes recruiting efforts and review from last year

We will keep this short, ~30 - 40 minutes and you'll go home excited about
riding your bike!

Part 2:

Youth, Junior and U23 Development in Bend

In 2010, we created the Competition Team, and we had riders like Colin
Dunlap and Cole Sprague go through a full 10-month cycling program. They
raced road, mountain and cross and achieved amazing results because this
program is focused very specifically on age-appropriate development. We are
now recognized as one of the best new junior development teams in the
Northwest and are attracting attention from others across the country who
are excited about what we're doing.

I need the help of people on the BendCycling list to do several things:

- keep Bend cool for cyclists
- encourage more juniors to pick up the sport (road, mountain, cross,
etc.)
- get in touch with me if you want to be involved
- understand the interplay of the different groups so that we can
maximize the potential of every young rider in this town

First, the Bend Endurance Academy is a non-profit organization and I'm the
full time cycling director there. I have made it my personal mission to
support developing juniors in Bend. I do this by working with many other
groups. Here's a quick list:

- OBRA is the governing body of bike racing and sanctions the events. I
have been working closely with OBRA to create high school racing
opportunities and teams across the state.
- Local High Schools: can create teams and race mountain and cyclocross
through OBRA.
- COCC: students can join the Cycling Club and the Academy works with
COCC to provide them with training resources and race support.
- Cog Wild Bicycle Tours: support our programs with resources like vans,
professional coaches
- CommuteOptions: work together on providing fun opportunities for kids
to learn about bikes
- Event Organizers: provide support and volunteers for their races, while
they provide racing opportunities for our athletes

The Academy is a *collaborative organization* and it improves as others
become involved. My program is not about "getting athletes," it's about
"sharing with athletes."

Right now, a junior can ride for a Local Team, be in an Academy program and
score points for their High School. An athlete who does just one of those
things will only go so far, but one who does them all will realize their
potential much faster. As we strengthen all of those components and get more
kids involved, I see Bend becoming one of the best places in the US for
cycling development.

*High School Teams*: Cyclocross and Mountain Bike (Road still to come...)

There's a coordinated approach from key individuals across Oregon to create
High School racing teams. The vision for high school racing is something
that's easily managed by volunteers in a fairly short season. The Bend
Endurance Academy fully supports high school racing in several ways:

- organizational support and resources for coaches
- additional coaching for high school team riders
- provides additional transportation resources for riders to attend away
races

High School Cycling Needs:

- teachers and administrators to be involved
- parents / volunteers who can be team leaders
- enough structure to be successful, but not too much that it's
burdensome
- recruiters within the schools to spread the word about the teams

*
*
*
*
*Local Teams: *How the Academy will benefit your junior riders.

I believe that as juniors need to ride with their peers as much as possible.
I'm working very hard to create a critical mass of riders so they can learn
from each other in training groups, rather than on their own from adults. To
the local teams and team leaders who currently have juniors or are
considering having juniors:

- local teams usually have 1 or 2 juniors at a time, usually kids of
someone on the team, or someone the team wants to support for personal
reasons
- juniors who ride for local teams should also be encouraged to ride with
their peers either on their high school team or in the Academy
- we have to prioritize development of teamwork, racing skills and bike
handling over fitness for juniors
- that means many adult group rides are too long, too hard and not
fulfilling for them
- juniors can score points and ride in the team kit like other members
while being a part of an Academy program
- high school races are different, and riders there should wear their HS
kits and those races will not count for Local Team points, in most cases.

I'd like to suggest that local teams adopt a high school and help them get
their program up and running. Instead of having one or two juniors on your
team, use your resources to get an entire team of kids organized and out
riding their bikes. As adults, I know you want to race your bikes and be on
the team, that's why you're doing it. I'd encourage you to assume a
supportive role and help more athletes come into the sport.

If you would like to talk more about junior cycling in Bend with me, please
give me a call or we can meet up for coffee, I'd love to hear your input and
it will shape where our programs go from here.

Cheers,

Bill

--
William Warburton
Cycling Director
541.335.1346

Bend Endurance Academy
500 SW Bond St, Suite 142
Bend, OR 97702

www.BendEnduranceAcademy.org