Thanks to a joint venture between the Adelaide Mountain Bike Club and Port Adelaide Cycling Club, led by the ideas mastermind, Kain Gardner, Junior Skill Clinic was born!
Wanting to see the sport grow, the Junior Skills Clinic was needed to bridge the gap that cycling had, a place for young kids to have fun, learn skills & develop as riders. Kicking off the first of 6 sessions back on May 29th we saw 37 keen kids rock up, plus a group of extra keen volunteer coaches! (Many are now qualified MTBA Level 0 Coaches).
Ages of the kids varied from 4-13 as well as the obvious skill differences. Classes were split in 4 groups of varying skills & over the following 4 sessions we have seen the confidence & skills across all ages develop. The main focuses have been around fun, basic skills, bike positioning, some simple self-bike checks, riding in groups etc. It’s been great to see the pure enjoyment of the kids (& the parents!!) both during & after the classes.
As mentioned, the progression all the kids have shown has been the most rewarding aspect from my perspective, from basic skills during classes to running short course simulated races, it’s been a pleasure to be part of. Highlighting the above has been the addition of more junior classes to the PACC CX events, specifically seeing the large amount of the course participants taking on the challenge of the State Champs on the weekend!! So far the Junior Skills Clinics have excelled all our expectations, all the coaches have been so proud with the development of all the groups.
Talks of Spring/Summer clinics are already starting to kick off, leading to exciting times for the development of this great sport. Thanks to all the parents for taking the time to enrol the kids, & also to all the volunteers for giving up your time to make it happen. Mostly, thanks to both AMTBC & PACC for coming up with the idea to fill the void in the junior ages we had.
See you all out on the trails,
Kev