John Wilson

I got a question about how to do this and decided to send OBRA wide. I will
be improving this recipe and will post on the Junior Cyclocross Web Page. If
you have any questions let me know. Now is the time to start thinking about
next year's team. There is paper work to fill out at the schools. You need
to get things in place while school is in session. Once kids are out for the
summer it is sort of too late.

The recipe is simple.

1. Go to your HS office and ask for all the forms/process to make up a
HS Club.

2. You may need a teacher representative. You can ask to send an email
to their teacher distribution list to see if you can find a cyclist teacher
at the school. I am happy to talk to any HS administrator on your behalf to
help explain the program. Just contact me at this email address:
corvallishsccx@obra.org

3. You only need three kids to form a team. Go for women and men. CX
is a great place for women cyclist to get their start.

4. You will likely need insurance for the team (required by the HS to
protect them). I am using the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It cost about $
20 per person but you do need 4 adults registered (coach, assistant coach,
two parents). For my team I found a way to cover the adult volunteer costs.
Hard to ask folks to volunteer and then pay. You will need to fill out forms
for BSA for all the kids. And different forms with a background check on all
the adults. Having four adults with background checks is one of the way BSA
gets low insurance rates and is comfortable that there are "appropriate"
adults monitoring/supporting this "Crew" (the BSA calls these clubs crews).
I can get you a contact name through BSA once you are ready. Our HS in
Corvallis use BSA for many clubs. So the HS was very comfortable with them.
I may work out something in the future through OBRA. Might even be cheaper,
but we will then have to make sure the HS's are comfortable with OBRA. More
folks know who the BSA are than OBRA.

5. Any parents that are driving kids will need to fill out forms with
the HS that prove they have insurance.

6. If you do any overnight trips you will need chaperones. If you have
any women on the team you will need both a man and women chaperone. The
Chaperones will need to fill out specific forms for the HS that include a
background check.

7. Jerseys: Castelli is making jerseys for the HS team at their cost
($40/jersey). I found local bike shops, and a local OBRA team to sponsor our
HS team in Corvallis. I charged approx. $150 to be on the jersey, plus I
gave them one jersey (so it is like a $110 donation). Get 3-4 folks donating
and you can subsidize the team costs. I ended up charging each kid $35 to be
on the team and that covered jersey and insurance costs plus some extra $$
for a team party. You can contact me for more information on Jerseys. I
strongly suggest getting an OBRA team to sponsor you, and a local bike shop.
Getting bikes may be one of your biggest challenges. Mtb bikes are legal,
but heavy, and not as much fun for CX.

8. In August I will be asking for team rosters. You have till then to
firm things up from my end but you should get going on the school/kid side
now!

9. I suggest you form your team this year before summer. Get all the
paper work completed. Set the expectation to practice in late July and
August. You will need contact info from all the kids so you can track them
down in the summer. I made up a team facebook site. Seems to be a fairly
reliable way to communicate.

10. There are many other resources here:
http://www.obra.org/junior_cyclocross_series/resources.html I will be
updating some stuff like a poster for next year that you can use.

11. I can help with training tips. I want to make a simple training manual
for HS team coaches. I think I have a recipe that works really well for
beginners that can be performed easily in a local park. We were practicing
twice a week. 1.5 hours per practice when there is enough light. Bend
Endurance Academy is an example of a much more serious and successful Junior
CX program. You can always get much more serious if you have kids willing to
make CX their primary focus.

12. I took the stance with my team that I would work around anyone's
schedule for practice. If they were playing Soccer, or on the Cross Country
team I did not make practice mandatory. I would work with the kids to get a
few practices in so they had the basics (meet on Saturdays for example). You
know they are fit if they are doing other sports. It is a little frustrating
to not have some of the kids at every practice but at this point we are a
fringe sport and cannot be demanding that kids sacrifice other interests. We
need to find a way to be a companion activity that potentially hooks the
kids and then they are willing to commit more time. I have successfully
converted Soccer players, Tennis players, Cross Country runners into I
believe lifelong cyclists without giving up their first sport choice.

OK, let me know if you have any questions.

John Wilson

From: Zachary Goude [mailto:zgoude@corbettcharter.k12.or.us]
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 7:51 AM
To: jfw100@comcast.net
Subject: Starting a HS Cyclocross team

John,

My name is Zach Goude, and I am a teacher at Corbett High School in Corbett
(East of Troutdale). Another teacher and I are advisers for a nascent
cycling club here at our school. We have several students who are interested
in cyclocross and would like to learn more about team competition this fall.
We would love more information on how to get set up and any other helpful
things you'd like to tell us.

Thanks!

~Zach Goude