Youth Racing at Nationals:

 A Modest Proposal*

*Don’t worry, no one is getting eaten. Also there are actually two proposals.

So the topic of youth racing is one I touched on back around cross nationals when there was a bit of a tizzy about having a cadet or U17 event at nationals (Which were held as recently as 2002).  The proponents argued that these races are needed, that the kids are old enough, that it would motivate them, that Holland does it, ect.  I've been meaning to go off on a half-cocked rant about it ever since, and here it is.

Cyclling skills are transferable.

Sadly Voss level talent, not so much.

While some of these arguments are valid, others are just the product of impatient parents who can’t wait for their little Cav or Vos to bust out and dominate.   Given the geographic realities of Canada versus many other cycling nations the truth is we can’t just try and imitate what other countries do just hope it sort of works out.  The truth is young racers benifit more from having plentiful and affordable grass roots racing available to them than they do having a single one shot deal called Nationals (with no outcome for these age groups I would add- there are no cadet worlds, or national team projects ect).

 If this guy hadn't wasted his youth riding mountain bikes

 he might have won a Grand Tour one day.

Attending any national championships for a U17 is an expensive endeavour for any kids that are not from the host region- so in the past these championships have tended to have very few riders from out of province, and the result is they end up being regional events anyways.  Road and track at least feature multiple days but for MTB and cross Nationals are generally a one shot deal (though some cadets certainly race both DH and XC- Geoff Kabush for example).

One way to change this is to create more value for the racers who attend Nationals by changing the nature of the event. This includes road nationals as there is currently talk of adding U17 events.

Instead of having a shorter, but otherwise carbon copy of the senior events,  instead we could create something different and more development focussed.  I have two largely similar proposals.

1)      Hold Discipline Specific Talent ID Camps after Nationals

MTB and Track lend themselves well to this, simply invite most of, if not all of the cadets (depending on field size) to attend a 3-4 day training camp after the racing is over at the venue that held the event.  This camp could focus on skills and developing proper training habits, as well as give CCA coaches a chance to see the riders coming up the development system from across the country.  Often time there isn't a lot of time in a season to focus on core skills- like team pursuit exchanges or madison fundamentals (or whatever it is mountain bikers do...).  This would be an ideal opportunity for this.

Additionally being on the back end of nationals it should be possible to get some of the top senior riders to stay and mentor the camp- what could be more exiting for young riders than training both with their peers but also with their heroes?

Mentorship matters.
Also I am now apprantly recyling pics.

2)      Cadet All-Stars Camps

My other option, and in many ways my preference, would be to host one or even two “Cadet All-Star Camps.”  These would require some coordination with the provinces, but the idea would be for a week long multi-discipline camp in August.  Riders would qualify via their provincial series (giving them additional goals for the year) and 8 or so riders (4 boys/4girls) would be nominated by their respective provinces.

The camps would ideally be help somewhere like Victoria or Bromont where there is access to mountain biking, good road riding and a velodrome, and over the week riders would be exposed to all three.  At the U17 age group the riders need not be specialised on just one discipline and this type of environment will help expose kids to other avenues of cycling (that might suit some better than what they currently know).

Somewhere right now the next Curt Harnett might be flailing around on a mountain bike

thinking he sucks at climbing.

While the camps could feature mini-races (such as mid-week track or mountain bike races) part of the goal of these camps would be the chance for riders to meet their counterparts from across the country – something that is important if in future years many of these same kids will race on National Teams together in a far more pressure-cooker environment.

In my mind one of the advantages of this camp is the chance to both cost share between the CCA and the provincial federations (as a side benefit this would help integrate these two levels of organisation). While presumably the athletes would still pay much of their own costs- just as they would have to attend nationals- they are now getting far more value for the trip.  Depending on the number of potential athletes and costs, it might be preferable to hold two Camps- an East and a West camp.

Kids won't know how much fun other disciplines are if they don't get the chance to find out!

Such a camp gives coaches more chances to see athletes from across the country at an early stage of development than just a single race. It also gives provincial staff a better idea of how their system compared to otehr provinces. 

The athletes have increased learning opportunities in quality training and racing habits to take with them as they move up the LTAD.  While making a four rider team from Quebec will doubtlessly be harder than making a four rider team from PEI, the riders from PEI also stand to gain the most as they will have had less exposure to high level racing than their Quebec, Ontario or BC peers.

Oh yeah, and it would be a whole lot of fun.

Johnny T knew how to have fun.  And win on the road, xc, dh and bmx bike. 

Oh and he had timeless fashion sense as well.