November 17, 2010

Welcome to the first Single Track Times of the Washington High School Cycling League.

I am the founding committee chair for the Washington High School Cycling League. My love for cycling started in 1999 and shortly thereafter I learned that my bike could take me places I never thought I would go, like becoming the chair of this League.

The Washington League is a dream come true; besides allowing me to combine my work experience as a project manager with my passion for mountain biking, this league has the potential to positively affect the lives of many young people in our state for years to come. This is an exciting time for our youth, our schools, and our state and helping to build this foundation is greatly rewarding; I am thrilled that you have expressed interest to join the effort.

On September 22 the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) announced at a Las Vegas press conference that Washington was granted project league status. As a NICA project Washington will receive a comprehensive range of NICA services to ensure successful league development, including access to staff and services, organizational development and training, website and registration services, event production support, bookkeeping, etc.

We welcome you to the League family and look forward to building this community program together.

Lisa Miller
Founding Chair
P.O. Box 22187
Seattle, WA 98112
p. 206.291.7773 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              206.291.7773      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
f. 206.577.4564
www.washingtonmtb.org
lisa@washingtonmtb.org

Thank you Easton Foundations

The Washington league is excited to announce that the Easton Foundations has generously awarded us a significant matching grant. This grant will serve as a platform to launch our fundraising efforts which are critical to the success of the league. Right now, all private and corporation donations will be matched by the Easton Foundations.

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation and have it matched by the Easton Foundations, you may do so here.

Survey Results

Thank you everyone that responded to our call to action by completing the online survey. Your valuable input helped us make some important decisions about the league which we are excited to announce. But first, here are some brief results from the survey:

• 370 people completed the survey
• 91% from Western Washington; 6.5% from Eastern Washington; 2.5% from out of state
• 34% ride their mountain bikes year round with the average of 9 months out of the year, peaking in July
• 41% said the high school league should be a spring league; 33% said fall league; 26% were either undecided or didn’t have a preference
• 110 listed their high school as having interest in starting a team
• 105 said they are interested in being a coach, assistant coach or ride leader
• And 26 said that they would like to make a tax deductible donation to help launch the league :)

Announcing Spring 2011 Racing

We are pleased to announce that we will host our inaugural racing season this next Spring!

Originally the plan was to launch the first season of racing in 2012, but recently there has been a surge of interest and positive energy behind the League, especially since the announcement of our partnership with NICA. Additionally, the outpouring of support from our 1000+ Facebook fans demonstrate that our state is eager to start racing. So, to maximize this momentum we will be launching in the spring of 2011 with a two-race series; one race in April and one in May. This abbreviated first season will serve as a great introduction to the sport of high school mountain bike racing to our students and also allow us to spend more time laying ground work for a more comprehensive four-race series in 2012, including building a broader following of students, coaches and schools.

Tentative racing dates for 2011:
* April 3rd
* May 1st

Announcing 2011 Leaders Summit

Mark your calendars for January 22-23, 2011.

Interested in becoming a coach, assistant coach, ride leader, or volunteer? If so, the Leaders’ Summit will help you with this important weekend of hands-on education.