National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) agreements to establish high school mountain biking leagues in Alabama and Virginia marked several milestones for the non-profit and mountain biking at large.
The agreements bring the number of new leagues added in 2014 to three, and the NICA league network to 13. The Alabama agreement also highlight how state park systems in the Southeastern United States are investing in mountain biking trails as part of their broader efforts to become more self sufficient.
The agreements mark significant milestones in NICA’s efforts to establish leagues coast to coast by 2020, said NICA Executive Director Austin McInerny.
“2014, with 30 percent growth in the number of NICA leagues, I think is going to be very significant for us,” McInerny said.
In a presentation at the Bicycle Leadership Conference two weeks ago, McInerny told industry executives NICA could open state leagues faster if it had more resources. It costs the non-profit about $25,000 to start a state league.
Two of the leagues added in 2014, Virginia and Wisconsin, are built on established existing mountain biking programs. The Alabama league, meanwhile, will be the first to hold all of its events in state parks, according to NICA Spokesman Paul Skilbeck.
Alabama State Parks has agreed to host league events as part of a broader embrace of mountain biking that is driven in part by efforts to become more self sufficient.
“They recognize the potential economic impact of supporting mountain biking in the parks and are interested in developing the AL state parks as a destination for year round riding,” said NICA Alabama League Director Eddie Freyer. “In addition, the park director recognizes that kids are tending to move away from outdoor pursuits and therefore the parks are looking to build their future user base by introducing kids to the sport of mountain biking, and in turn those kids will continue to use the parks in the future.”
Nine of Alabama’s 22 state parks already offer mountain bike trails and Alabama State Parks has partnered with the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) to build more toward its goal of becoming the MTB destination of the Southeast by 2020. Last year, IMBA Trail Solutions entered an historic agreement with Georgia State Parks to develop trails at its state parks. Both park systems are working under mandates from state legislators to become more self sufficient.
NICA now has league clusters in Northern California, Southern California and Arizona; Utah and Colorado; Minnesota and Wisconsin; Texas; New York and Virginia; and Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. ICA has licensed over 1,300 licensed coaches, who are working with 3,500 student-athletes in the USA
