School Boy Racing

JT86

With the sport of cycling all time high at the moment, why are there so few school boys and juniors taking up the sport.

Is it because the clubs are not getting kids involved, or maybe the bad publicity that cycling has been getting.

But I feel that the sport needs to get more kids involved.

Tonyandthewhale

Bikes and gear are expensive, kids don't have any money.

Icyseanfitz

would have to agree with tony, its the money

bogmanfan

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

would have to agree with tony, its the money

Plus one. Kids have an annoying habit of growing out of things, including €1000 bikes.

boege

In reality there is no structured system to bring schooboys through in most clubs and in most cases juniors have to be accompanied by adults to join club spins. That was how I got into cycling as my son was interested and I had to accompany him.

Tom Shanahan was running specific training session for U16 in Limerick during last winter. I suspect this is not very common but am open to be corrected.

However, there seems to be a lot of juniors doing well in the A3 cat at the moment. One assumes they moved up from schoolboy.

C3PO

Don't really think money is the main reason - there are lots of kids into BMX and DH racing! I just think road and XC racing are just not perceived as being cool by teenagers!

moch

If there were some role models in cycling that kids could look up to there may be more interest. Lets just take Dublin for instance where most of the population of kids would live, you could bet that they know Bernard Brogan from the GAA, Robbie Keane from soccer and Brian O Driscoll from rugby. The kids need someone to look up too to make it cool. I am sure there could be more restrictions on bikes so the cost would not be too high.

Beasty

I can think of a number of factors -

There is an ever increasing number of activities available for kids,
There's more pressure to do well at school.
Parents are probably less inclined to allow their kids out on the roads on their bikes
Fewer kids getting involved probably means some of the clubs are less inclined to put on kid-specific events/training

Having said that, one area where there has been a significant pick-up is on the track. Unfortunately track facilities in Ireland are very limited, with only 3 outdoor tracks available. It's a safe environment to learn riding skills, and GB have been able to produce a steady stream of road racers from their track programme. An indoor facility (which is currently in the pipeline) would allow year-round training, and could potentially produce many more top class cyclists. Cost tends not to be too much of an issue as tracks will typically hire out bikes to kids on a subsidised basis.

monkey 456

Interesting thread. I wil give a different perspective.
Im a 14 year old boy who took up cycling at christmas. I joined a club, got a racing bike and since i have completed 50k cycles and have never felt better. Every week i look foward to my sunday spin and i have met loads of nice people through it. I encourage people my age to get involved because i do not regret it one bit!

RMD

I was real into cycling from 14-17 and at the time the last thing on my mind was road cycling. The idea of lyrca and roadbikes was in my view at the time "gay" to say the least, not a hope I was going to do it. Dropped cycling for 3 years and now I want to get back into it, this time road cycling. Realised the potential speed road cyclists can get up to, how much easier it is just to leave my house and be on a road rather than drive to a trail and lyrca isn't that bad at all.

Problem is the perception it's "gay", will be hard to beat though. Very few teens find lycra and road cycling appealing IMO. Price is also a barrier, decent gear is expensive and the expenses add up quickly.

petethedrummer

Give it another 12 to 18 years when most of us on here are living vicariously through our children.

thesimpsons

We found road conditions and drivers attitudes is a big concern to us in letting our teen out on training runs on his own. finding a time slot between work and home time to accompany him when the weather wasn't milling down was hard too. he's old enough now to go out on own and regularly goes 40km but its usually on his own and this can get boring. He keeps it quiet from most of his friends as its seen as a gay thing. all other sports from soccer, rugby, gaa, even tennis is seen as more acceptable.

anyone got info on the velodrome tracks - where are they? he'd love a session at one.

Lumen

thesimpsons wrote: »

He keeps it quiet from most of his friends as its seen as a gay thing. all other sports from soccer, rugby, gaa, even tennis is seen as more acceptable

This is sad on a number of levels.

My son is 6 and does ballet and tae kwondo. I figure when he starts encountering those sorts of attitudes he can start with reasoned debate and if that fails kick their teeth out.

ROK ON

On my way back from a short training spin yesterday, I saw 5 young lads (12-14 I'd say) all on nice bikes in club colours descending Ladies View at speed.

Was great to see, as I don't often see very young cyclists out and about.

I think that society has become increasingly paranoid about the safety of children in the past two decades. Very few kids where I live cycle to school (even though it would be on quiet country roads and only a couple of km's). I saw this as the father of three young kids, and I am not so sure that I would let them out of my sight.

The paranoia of parents not allowing teenage kids on bikes is laughable given that there are a lot of kids driving.

I am 39 years of age, and from the age of 9 I cycled 5km to school every day, as did hundreds of others at my school. During the summer the bike was used for off season rugby training - doing up to 70km in order to stay somewhat fit. Its not that long ago, but kids seemed to have significantly more freedom when I was a teen.

My regret is that I only ever saw cycling as training for fitness as opposed to a sport in itself. This is despite being a cycling fan back in the days of Kelly, Millar, Lemond (any English speaking cyclist really).

While I loved playing rugby as a youngster, I have always enjoyed being on my bike more. Part of the issue is that cycling is simply not marketed at kids in the way other larger sports are. Hopefully, programmes such as sprocket rocket will change that.

At the Ras Mumhan the other day, many of the participants were around the 30 year mark. In the sportif, many of the participants were around the 40 mark. There are lots of kids who may want to cycle, but it is up to the clubs and CI to actively market the sport to these folks.

Tenzor07

RPL1 wrote: »

Don't really think money is the main reason - there are lots of kids into BMX and DH racing! I just think road and XC racing are just not perceived as being cool by teenagers!

At the weekend just gone there was a "Gravity Enduro" Mountain bike race on, which is a mix of Downhill and XC on Mid-travel trail/dh bikes, and there was a younger age profile as compared with the age groups you get in Road and XC MTB racing...both of which have the perception of being for "Dad's in Lycra"...

Though having said that, I think CI need to do a lot more to get Juniors involved for the future of the sport in Ireland... While they will say numbers are way up, if you break down the ages of new CI members the average would be quite high, and mainly at the Leisure end of the scale...

Lumen

I guess part of the problem, even when you sweep aside ignorance about the sport, is that pro cyclists are old.

To counter the "cycling is a soft sport" misunderstanding you could show a video of Paris Roubaix, but then you realise that Tom Boonen is 31, and that's like, a million or something.

greenmat

I have a son 12 years of age, got him a bike and all the gear as he was coming out with me on a Mountain bike and really liked cycling. Was playing soccer but didn't enjoy it and wanted to give it up so got him a road bike. He loves it, can do 40km comfortably now, has climbed Howth a few times but his average speed is too slow for an adult group at the moment and is nervous behind a wheel ( I keep him ahead of me where I can keep watch over him and get a tow:)). Would love to get him some coaching and cycling with other kids but very few offer it. There is one kids group that meet in Dunboyne on Saturdays, Inspiration Cycle Club I think but it is one of the only ones. It is definatly one area where this great sport lacks greatly, youth developement.

Dermot Illogical

greenmat wrote: »

There is one kids group that meet in Dunboyne on Saturdays, Inspiration Cycle Club I think but it is one of the only ones. It is definatly one area where this great sport lacks greatly, youth developement.

I think I've seen them out around Tara on the weekends. That group seems to be huge. Great to see.

greenmat

Must look into this group for him but it would interfere with the Swords CC 8.30am "Race"

GlennaMaddy

CI should buy a selection of different sized bikes for various disciplines and rent them to clubs who want to run a summer camp. The sproket rocket was a good start. I think some clubs fear that if they start any initiative at the lower ages then they'll be expected to see it through to junior levels, which would a big commitment for club volunteers.

greenmat

GlennaMaddy wrote: »

CI should buy a selection of different sized bikes for various disciplines and rent them to clubs who want to run a summer camp. The sproket rocket was a good start. I think some clubs fear that if they start any initiative at the lower ages then they'll be expected to see it through to junior levels, which would a big commitment for club volunteers.

Yea, it's a huge responsibility to take care of young riders. Many parents would just use you for "Babysitting" duties. As far as I can see, the average age of most club cyclists would suggest that there are plenty of 10-14 year old kids about with parents who cycle a lot. How many of them would take the sport up if they could join their parents on slower club rides? Then again, how many parents would go on the slower rides with their kids?

LCD

The sport is too hard!

Tenzor07

LCD wrote: »

The sport is too hard!

Ah the PS/Xbox/Facebook generation speaks!

Muller_1

Bray Wheelers Cycling Club youth spins are every Monday evening during the summer months, and every second Sunday during the winter months.

We are looking to recruit new members to join in. Its open to boys and girls, and each week we alternate between mountain biking and road biking, with some track cycling included also.

We offer a service where we meet at Bray Wheelers clubhouse, and bikes can be brought from there, with transport for bikes kindly being provided by club chairman Mark Murphy by van. This will make it easier for parents who have difficulty transporting bikes.
At the end of July each year, the Murphy & Gunn Underage Interclub league is held, with five races including two road, two mountain bike, and one track race, with prizes on offer and a team aspect to the competition, where Bray riders compete against youth riders from Sorrento Cycling Club, Orwell Wheelers and other clubs.


http://www.braywheelers.com/events.htm

GlennaMaddy

It doesn't help that cycling is a sport you can be competitive at well past your prime. The rugby, soccer and GAA organisations are very effective at bringing in young players up to the age of 10. I put this down to the fact that you can't play those sports once your're 'past it' and so those organisations don't have a problem finding volunteers to commit their time.

thesimpsons

greenmat wrote: »

Then again, how many parents would go on the slower rides with their kids?

i'm considerable slower than my son - He waits for me !

el tel

From my exeperience in the past it's only kids who have a connection via a parent who get into club-based road cycling at a young age and generally that's in their early teens. I think otherwise road cycling is considered (if considered at all) as being too hard/fast/not fun/expensive/for old people. Kids like to have craic with their peers and don't want to hang out with adults. For that reason I think they'd prefer to muck around on MTBs. I think a velodrome and more maintained outdoor tracks in Ireland could acelerate the development of the sport by making it seen as being a more sociable thing to do, especially so if young people could be introduced to it via school groups. Plus indoor track cycling is a great spectator sport, having kids just watch races would be a great way to get them interested.

That said, my club have started a kids run on Sat mornings and it gets a good turn out. It's funny to see the parents waving their kids off from the club house. The majority of the kids appear to be well under 10 and they ride along the road in single file on their wee bikes. The club also has a number of race bikes for newcomers to ride before taking the plunge and getting their own.

jimbo28

I remember back in the early 90's when I started out as a 10 year old child there was a thriving underage scene.Clubs like my own in tuam,Kanturk, Celbridge,Limerick and Waterford to name but a few,had huge underage teams.I think i was too young to understand the structure but alot of disciplines of cycling were covered at a young age and brought through to competition level, there was an excellent skills program, short sprinting, cyclocross and road racing/TT.All of these were brought to competition at the underage championships.The skills we learned were brilliant and to this day they still benefit me in terms of my bike handling, bearing in mind that I spent 2 hrs every saturday morning with my clubmates running the course again and again.....every saturday for weeks leading up to the championships, and that was for about 4 years ( to be honest there are a few lads at senior level who should be made do skills courses before being set loose on the bunch ).Anyways im sure there are quite valid reasons as to why there was such a drop off.Im not sure myself but when i stopped racing as a junior there was still a large number of underage participation in cycling.When i look at the races these days as a senior i see that very few have underage racing.One thing i do remember when i stopped was that the auld fella seemed to spend a few more pound on the siblings who werent costing him a fortune for the few years previous and me being told that "You got enough when you were on the bike":D

kumate_champ07

we are a small island with plenty of sports for kids to choose from, I know as a kid I'd never have been able to afford to do cycling, I did have a couple of basic mtb bikes but it wasnt untill I was an adult I enjoyed it more and even now its still a very expensive activity for me.

as long as kids are doing a sport it doesnt matter if its a ball or a bike imo

I hope the schools program at Sundrive is developed more, hire bikes make it affordable for everyone and its a sport that might appeal to kids that find it hard to fit into a team sport

morana

This is the type of thread I love to see on boards!

There is a lot of people working with youth that we dont see in clubs . The avg age in the org is 39! This is far to old from a competitive point of view but as was said earlier we have a lot of Leisure members. I believe its this area that will feed into the competitive cycle and produce the great riders of the future. Added to this the bmx and track are breeding grounds for champs.

Last year we had 2000 members who we didnt count as members in Subway SR. This is encouraging and if you Mullingar having to close it off at 150 applicants its very positive.

I think a valid question is what are CI doing about it? Well we have a full time person working with SR prog and are implementing a Gearing up prog as a follow on. Added to this is the MBLA prog for Offroad and another area which I think is critical in terms of performance is making sure the coach infrastructure is in place to start the riders off right.

This is why we decided to bring in-house the Dev prog and will be looking to the riders in those squads to be providing the internationals of tomorrow.

Finally something which I was looking to have implemented was an approved CI youths bike. steel frame single speed with 28 spoke wheels. The cost would be capped at ~€200 to avoid expensive 1k bikes. If you think how much it costs to join a gaa/soccer/rugger club for the year versus the morana bike and a €5 joining fee I think its competitive..

Tenzor07

Some good news: www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/irish-schoolboys-downey-oloughlin-dominate-koh-in-scottish-youth-tour/

greenmat

morana wrote: »

This is the type of thread I love to see on boards!

There is a lot of people working with youth that we dont see in clubs . The avg age in the org is 39! This is far to old from a competitive point of view but as was said earlier we have a lot of Leisure members. I believe its this area that will feed into the competitive cycle and produce the great riders of the future. Added to this the bmx and track are breeding grounds for champs.

Last year we had 2000 members who we didnt count as members in Subway SR. This is encouraging and if you Mullingar having to close it off at 150 applicants its very positive.

I think a valid question is what are CI doing about it? Well we have a full time person working with SR prog and are implementing a Gearing up prog as a follow on. Added to this is the MBLA prog for Offroad and another area which I think is critical in terms of performance is making sure the coach infrastructure is in place to start the riders off right.

This is why we decided to bring in-house the Dev prog and will be looking to the riders in those squads to be providing the internationals of tomorrow.

Finally something which I was looking to have implemented was an approved CI youths bike. steel frame single speed with 28 spoke wheels. The cost would be capped at ~€200 to avoid expensive 1k bikes. If you think how much it costs to join a gaa/soccer/rugger club for the year versus the morana bike and a €5 joining fee I think its competitive..

Glad to hear positive moves on the way. Just ordered cycling shoes and pedals to go with my 12 year old's bike, he's been waiting a while. Any advice on general coaching etc for him. Would going to the sundrive track be a good option for me to bring him on?

Tenzor07

Hopefully CI will start delveloping an Irish team, as there is none in this years RAS!