[NCNCA] Juniors Category Change

Mon Jul 31 22:23:50 PDT 2006

Careful folks - numbers are coming your way. From the responses so far generated by Velo Promo's decision at the Giro this year, you'd have to think Junior racing was all but in the tank and the elimination of this date ushers in the Apocalypse! However, according to the NCNCA results website: (and you could look it up, too...)

To date, we've had 45 events since February. 
To date, we've had 33 of those events offer Junior categories
To date, of those 33 events offering Junior racing - 24 had multiple junior categories. 

And THIS is a group in crisis? Not in my book. 

Do Juniors require subsidies in order to compete? Why? They already are subsidized - and they're subsidized by all the other competitors who pay full price to compete so that overall operations costs are met. Those porta potties and permit fees and officials and race staff and numbers/pins and lunches and other big ticket items don't have their expenses met by any 1 field of riders - it's their combined totals that write the checks.  

Is this the way things are done in Europe? In Australia? In Zamboanga? Who cares - every culture spends money on what they value most - I don't think there is much interest from Belgians and Italians in high school American football (not futbol) in their towns. Because they have a different developmental structure in Europe doesn;'t mean it could easily be duplicated here, if at all - c'est la vie. 

You are, after all, invited to try new things in Northern California and are invited to promote as many Junior events as possible. We have an important scheduling meeting in October and new promoters are cordially invited to get their event placed on the calendar. The NCNCA believes in new events so strongly they even offer seed money ($500 per event this season) to new events. Tieni Duro and Valley Spokesmen put their money where their mouths are with their events.  

Velo Promo has supported Junior cycling this season with 8 different events that featured Junior cycling (including the Gold Nugget Stage Race, exclusively for Juniors). Dropping 1 Junior event from this season's record is destructive? What definition do you use for "Destroy?"

If you guys REALLY want a group to recognize that's been overlooked all year long - take a gander at Cat 4 & 5 Master 45's. There are over 500 of them in Northern California and they've had exclusive events only 8 times this season. Mostly they have to race in combined open 45 Masters - you kn ow that's tough when you're a rookie. When I started racing in the stone age, we had only Senior and Junior events and they had no skill categories. Olympians lined up next to bermuda shorts and bobby socks.  Unfair to both parties and without doubt we lost plenty of first time/1 time competitors because of that enormous disparity. Things are different today and I think vastly improved.  

I'm thrilled that Juniors can see Masters competing today well into their 60's because Cycling is and should be a sport for life, not just a brief interlude only for potential Olympians or potential Pro's that the rest of us need to subsidize and/or support. This is their example for that future in store for them. Each cycling group should be supporting each other, not simply a one-way street of support.  

Juniors are an important aspect of bike racing culture, as important as Elites and Masters but, please - if the absence of juniors in one event indicates lack of overall support for Juniors across Northern California/Nevada, then call me way "un-convinced".    

Tom Simpson
Pilarcitos Cyclesports
732 Fairfield Road
Burlingame, CA  94010
tom at pilarcitos.com
(650) 302-6310 cell

-----Original Message-----
From: jazlotlow at sbcglobal.net
To: jason.k at comcast.net; nitish.nag at gmail.com; velopro1 at sonnet.com; ncnca at ncnca.org
Cc: oakland_racing at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 2:36 PM
Subject: Re: [NCNCA] Juniors Category Change

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;
    boundary="NextPart_Webmail_9m3u9jl4l_9072_1154376417_1"

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 b
 e 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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