Cycling & study training camp for secondary school girls

QueensGael

*** Please share with clubmates/friends/family/colleagues/neighbours who might be interested ***

The Women’s Commission is hosting a cycling training camp for secondary school girls, with the aim of getting girls involved in cycling as well as managing study and exam workloads.

Top Irish cycling coach, Paddy Doran will lead a spin in the morning, and author Orla Ní Shuilleabháin (“Study Skills & Exam Essentials) will hold a study skills session in the afternoon. Irish National Championship and winner of the NDC sprint jersey at Rás na mBan, Fiona Meade, will be on hand to offer advice and answer any questions.

Venue: Cycling Ireland circuit at Corkagh Park and Green Isle Hotel
(near Newlands Cross, take exit 2 off the N7 and follow signs for Camac Valley camping site) map: goo.gl/mp8imC
Date: Sunday, October 19th 2014
Time: Starts at Corkagh Park at 09:30
Cost: €10 per participant
What to bring: road bike (in good working order), helmet, packed lunch, towel, change of clothes. You don’t need cycling specific clothes – regular sportswear will be fine.

Sign-up here by 14th Oct.

Any questions, just post below.

Thanks!

DaithiMC

Does the bike need to be dropped handlebars? I'd like to get my daughter more into cycling but currently she has a hybrid and I don't want to go to the expense of a roadbike if she's not into it but I think she might get encouraged by doing this.

JK.BMC

Great idea. The womens comm. does great work. Hope all goes well; will spread the word

QueensGael

Thanks for the interest! For this particular date, participants will need to have a road bike, as they will be going out for a group spin. For safety reasons, all bikes in a group situation need to be road bikes (i.e. with the drop bars) as otherwise there's a danger the handlebars can get tangled when riding close to one another.

Depending on how well this event goes, and how many guides/coaches we can gather, we plan on running a training day at a later stage for girls who are not currently involved in cycling, and most likely are using hybrids/MTBs. They'll need to be split into smaller groups, which requires more volunteers, but it's definitely something we're discussing. I'll post any updates on it here and on www.womenscycling.ie

man_no_plan

I have the poster up in school, I think its a great idea well done. The lads were all over me asking me was there anything on for them. Think they felt left out. Maybe it's worth a new thread or maybe someone knows the answer - how would I go about organising cycling in the school for kids?

The big one is insurance - Would CI membership cover them if they all joined or would it be too much of a nightmare to even get involved in. I know a lot of posters on here are big into the racing and stuff. I cycle for leisure/pleasure/fitness some of the lads asking about cycling play no sport at all and aren't really involved in clubs and that so I think that cycling could tick the box for them and enhance what the school offers them in terms of extra curricular. I'd take any advice... Thanks

QueensGael

For camps/training days which take place on the public road, the participants will need a CI limited competition licence or get an event licence which covers that day only (fka one-day licence, €10 for adults, for 2014 these were only available from Jan-Mar). You can get more details here http://www.cyclingireland.ie/page/membership/insurance

Not sure what the situation would be for having something in a school e.g. doing a skills session on a playground or playing field might be covered by the school's own insurance. Guess it'd be best to ask the school itself.

Thanks for putting up the posters for us!

galwaycyclist

man_no_plan wrote: »

I have the poster up in school, I think its a great idea well done. The lads were all over me asking me was there anything on for them. Think they felt left out. Maybe it's worth a new thread or maybe someone knows the answer - how would I go about organising cycling in the school for kids?

The big one is insurance - Would CI membership cover them if they all joined or would it be too much of a nightmare to even get involved in. I know a lot of posters on here are big into the racing and stuff. I cycle for leisure/pleasure/fitness some of the lads asking about cycling play no sport at all and aren't really involved in clubs and that so I think that cycling could tick the box for them and enhance what the school offers them in terms of extra curricular. I'd take any advice... Thanks

This might be worth a different thread. Contact the Green Schools Envinmental Education Unit. Ask to speak to someone from the Travel Theme.

They can help co-ordinate cycle skills training for the kids. This should be on-road following a quick basic skills assessment off-road.

There is a county council grant to cover part of the cost of the training the school or pupils will have to raise the rest. The school insurance should cover the training - as far as I know its the same as taking them off campus for other types of activities.

Animella

Fantastic idea. Will be be other camps in different parts of the country? I'd love to see more teenage girls taking up cycling - and indeed any sport :-(

Fiona Meade is a great role model. Hope the workshop goes well.

QueensGael

Thanks Animella! We did some women's camps in different parts of the country last year - Naas, Bray, Castlebar and Nenagh. At the moment though, we don't have plans to do the schoolgirl camps elsewhere in the country - really it boils down to manpower. These camps are organised by a small group of volunteers at the Women's Commission with help from local clubs, and don't have enough bodies to do this elsewhere.

However, if other clubs or groups around the country would like to get advice on how to do something similar, I'd be happy to share how we got it set up, recommendations/best practices, etc

Beasty

I think it's great that the Women's Commission are taking this initiative. I guess there is going to be that "(wo)manpower" issue for a while yet as more girls progress through the ranks. I know my club has started trying to encourage more women as well as kids to join up. Historically cycling at club level (and across CI) has been very male dominated and we have seen plenty of evidence that the growth in recent years has been more at the MAMILS end of things (and I plead guilty to contributing to that!), but I think if we can get more women involved not only will it help move the activity (including at the competitive level) forward in Ireland, but also hopefully start to bring more younsters in. I know the track does see a few more youngsters, both boys and girls, but we have a long way to go to make cycling appeal equally to both the male and female populations

QueensGael

Quick reminder that registration for this will close early next week, so sign up soon if you're interested or know someone who is, thanks!

http://womenscycling.ie/cycling-study-training-camp-secondary-school-girls/