The Leaders’ Summit are in integral part of the NICA model for building high school mountain bike programs. The summits bring together head Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Ride Leaders, and General Volunteers — both new and experienced — to develop skills and knowledge, share strategies, and build community. The conferences promote a holistic approach to coaching that creates an environment in which young people can grow and thrive. Summits also provide opportunities for participants to learn all about the league structures and processes, how to start a mountain bike team, how to work with their schools, issues related to liability, and the unique intricacies of working with high school cyclists. Additionally, the “Teaching Coaches How to Coach Skills” course developed by NICA Skills Guru, Lee McCormack, is always well received. One NorCal League coach stated, “I learned more in one day at this clinic than I’ve learned about mtb technique EVER!”
This fall, the NorCal League attracted nearly 60 coaches and the Texas League had 37 coaches participate in their respective weekends of training, information sharing and collaboration. The SoCal League Leaders’ Summit is October 19-20 and the New York League’s Summit is scheduled for early November.
- Colorado, Minnesota, Utah and Arizona will host Leaders’ Summits in the spring and for the first time in NICA History, two leagues, Tennessee and Georgia, will host a combined summit in the spring with the hope of motivating a large number of individuals to join the excitement of high school cycling.
“We didn’t let the worst rainfall in the past 3 years dampen the 2013 Leaders’ Summit with the 38 coaches who traveled from as far away as Amarillo, TX. The facilities at Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, TX allowed us to bring all of our training inside. Beating our previous Leaders’ Summit attendance record by 81% was incredible. Four of our teams that are in development across the state are being started by student athletes! We all can’t wait to be standing at the start line on February 9, 2014!
Please be sure to include a contact Vance line with my email for those interested in starting a team.”
Vance McMurry, Texas League Director
