[NCNCA] Juniors Category Change

Mon Jul 31 14:36:25 PDT 2006

I was going to stay out of this one since I'm no longer officially a NCNCA rider, but I can't keep my mouth shut on this occassion.

I think it's a terrible idea to drop the juniors race.  We need juniors racing for the future of the sport.  If there's not going to be a separate juniors category at a race, juniors should at least be able to race for just the cost of insurance surcharges.  Juniors races should be seen an investment in the future rather than as revenue generators.  

Is it all possible for the promoter to do a Women's 3/4 race (and perhaps pick separately) and add the juniors race back in?  

----- Original Message ----
From: jason.k at comcast.net
To: Nitish Nag <nitish.nag at gmail.com>; velopro1 at sonnet.com; ncnca at ncnca.org
Cc: NRL <oakland_racing at yahoogroups.com>; hockeypuck at astound.net
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 1:06:57 PM
Subject: Re: [NCNCA] Juniors Category Change

Nitish and Julian.... well said, I couldn't agree more...

The Giro di SF is a fun course, and I also wish it had a category for Juniors in it this year....   Since it doesn't, most of our juniors wont be there, and I likely wont be there... which also means I wont be racing in the Elite catagories...    (i would imagine there will be several juniors who might have gone and raced Jr.s and Elites that might not bother going at all now)

That said, it's always a challenge to fit all of the categories in on one day...   Something has to give, somewhere....    

We have seen the debates off and on over the past couple years, "need more junior races" "need more womens races" "need more womens races for individual categories"  .. we all know the wants are out there... and we all know that those fields are sometimes left out because they are not the most profitable... (un ugly fact of life)

ALthough promoters should keep in mind that Junior fields have been getting bigger...   For more popular races, that aren't in the middle of nowhere, it has been fairly common to see a turnout of 35+ for a 10-14 race and 50 (limit reached with people on the waiting list) for a 15-18 race...      I can't speak for all Juniors but I'd be willing to bet that they might even be willing to pay a little more if it meant their field would exist...

As it is, I'd like to thank Bob and Velo Promo for always doing a great job in offering Junior fields at every event that they promote on their own...  regardless of how much income it may or may not bring.....  It was not Bob's idea/decision to leave Juniors out of this one.

Jason Kent
Director Sportif
Tieni Duro Junior Cycling Development

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Nitish Nag" <nitish.nag at gmail.com>
> To whom it may concern,
> 
> As the president of a Junior Cycling team, *and *a junior racer, I think it
> is completely destructive for the promoters of the Giro di Sf to remove the
> juniors race as a Category.
> 
> First and foremost, Junior development in cycling is the only way a
> traditional and exquisite sport such as road cycling will have a chance to
> continue and grow as a community. While promoters may be thinking of next
> quarter revenues and increased advertisements for a specific sector for
> their product market, it is quite frankly a short sighted decision by the
> promoters. In order to build the base of America's cycling potential, junior
> racing is simply the ONLY way to ensure success of professional and
> recreational competition growth. For example, in Europe the support for
> Junior cycling is immense, 10 fold of what the united states carries, thus
> the abundance of successful European cyclists in ALL arenas of cycling
> (including mountain biking, which was founded in California itself, where
> all international level champions are of European origin and citizenship).
> From this example, American based promoters should take note as to how long
> term investments in cycling can truly be beneficial for all. The junior
> field evaporates quickly in to the Elite fields as usually a racer starts
> when they are about 15, and graduating from this league by the time racing
> age crosses 18. From this perspective, it is easily visible how important
> attracting juniors is for a long term return at events.
> 
> The basic point is that juniors are the future. Deleting the future from
> cycling equals no future for cycling, hence the fact for the extreme stress
> on support for juniors.
> 
> I sincerely hope you will take this in to consideration for your future
> endeavours in race promotion and sponsorship.
> 
> 
> All the best,
> -- 
> -Nitish Nag
> Team President
> NRL Racing
> nrlracing.org
> nitish.nag at gmail.com

From: "Nitish Nag" <nitish.nag at gmail.com>
To: velopro1 at sonnet.com, ncnca at ncnca.org
Cc: NRL <oakland_racing at yahoogroups.com>, jason.k at comcast.net
Subject: Juniors Category Change
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 18:52:55 +0000
Content-Type: Multipart/alternative;
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To whom it may concern,

 As the president of a Junior Cycling team, and a junior racer, I think it is completely destructive for the promoters of the Giro di Sf to remove the juniors race as a Category. 

 First and foremost, Junior development in cycling is the only way a traditional and exquisite sport such as road cycling will have a chance to continue and grow as a community. While promoters may be thinking of next quarter revenues and increased advertisements for a specific sector for their product market, it is quite frankly a short sighted decision by the promoters. In order to build the base of America's cycling potential, junior racing is simply the ONLY way to ensure success of professional and recreational competition growth. For example, in Europe the support for Junior cycling is immense, 10 fold of what the united states carries, thus the abundance of successful European cyclists in ALL arenas of cycling (including mountain biking, which was founded in California itself, where all international level champions are of European origin and citizenship). From this example, American based promoters should take note as to how long term investments in cycling can
 truly be beneficial for all. The junior field evaporates quickly in to the Elite fields as usually a racer starts when they are about 15, and graduating from this league by the time racing age crosses 18. From this perspective, it is easily visible how important attracting juniors is for a long term return at events.  

 The basic point is that juniors are the future. Deleting the future from cycling equals no future for cycling, hence the fact for the extreme stress on support for juniors.

 I sincerely hope you will take this in to consideration for your future endeavours in race promotion and sponsorship.

All the best,
-- 
-Nitish Nag
Team President
NRL Racing
nrlracing.org
 nitish.nag at gmail.com 

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