Administrators, teachers, parents, students and/or community members can start a NICA cycling club or team at their local high school or community. While it is not necessary that the person who initiates the club be a school “insider” (teacher or administrator), this can be very useful. A teacher, administrator, or school volunteer within the school possesses certain advantages, such as knowledge of the school community, bureaucratic systems, and channels, and how to access potential teen cyclists. Extensive cycling experience is not necessary. One should simply 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

Most mountain bike teams start small and grow quickly; it’s a tremendous challenge but highly rewarding!  A Nebraska League 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 NICA Handbook (PDF) for more info on Division specifics.

Where

The Nebraska League includes the entire state. Neighboring states may participate if a league does not currently exist in that region.

When

The Nebraska Interscholastic Cycling League operates a Fall sport-based race series schedule:

April – August: Registration for Nebraska League teams happens in April. At this time anyone who intends to coach a team should register with the League so that they are covered under our insurance. League teams are limited to the number of weeks they can have pre-season practice. In addition, teams are not to practice as a NICA Team or are insured outside of these limits.

April 1 – June 30: Pre-season activities can commence limited activities on April 1st.  Allowable pre-season activities are bike checks, fun rides, mechanical workshops, or skills clinics. Between April 1 – and June 30, teams are allowed to have up to 6 scheduled pre-season activities.  These activities must be approved by the League director and comply with NICA training limits.

July 1- October 31:  Regular season training practice (3-4 times a week) can commence on July 1. All team rides or other training activities must end within two weeks of the final League race. A more detailed description can be found in the NICA Handbook (PDF).

How

Visit NICL’s Roadmap for Coaches for directions on how to get started.  These guides and resources will give you a step-by-step approach to starting your new team.  Additionally, contact information for advice and mentoring is contained within these guides.

To start a Nebraska NICA team in your community, contact info@nebraskamtb.org or Bree Campbell (League Director) bree@nebraskamtb.org