Start a Club/Team

Mountain biking teams tend to start small but grow relatively quickly; it’s a lot of hard work but it is unbelievably rewarding! The first step for many coaches is to attend our fall coaches conference (Info to be added)

Who

Administrators, teachers, parents, students and/or community members can start a cycling club at their local high school or a composite team using children from multiple schools in the area! To start a club within a school, it is not necessary that the person is a teacher or administrator, but being “in” the school can be surprisingly helpful. A teacher, administrator or school volunteer within the school are ‘in the know” of how the school operates, who to talk to, and how to entice potential teen riders. To start a composite team, all a person really needs is the desire to want to introduce children to the amazing world of mountain biking and determination to make it happen. And do not worry, extensive cycling experience is in no way necessary. To start any type of team, High School or Composite, all one simply needs is to have the desire to introduce kids to the sport of mountain biking. Once you have decided to create a team, the League can help educate you and provide you with all the tools necessary to be an excellent coach.

What

A NICA New York mountain bike team can be any size, as long as correct coach-to-student-athlete ratios are abided by. Teams are broken into Division 1 and Division 2 categories based on their team size (and not their school size). Please see the (NY NICA RULEBOOK link) (PDF) for more info on Division specifics.

Where

The New York includes the entire state. Neighboring states may participate if a League does not currently exist in that region. Click (list/map of teams??) to see where the latest New York teams are located.

NICA Coaches License Program

For more information about the NICA licensed coach program, please click here.  Coaches on new teams need only obtain a NICA General Volunteer License, but the Team Director does need to take steps toward obtaining a NICA Head Coach License.  Please contact your league director jason@newyorkmtb.org if you have more questions.