Minnesota Mountain Bike Series

The Minnesota High School Cycling League was organized to provide competitive mountain biking programs for students in grades 9 to 12. With the cooperation of local race organizers, our partners, and our sponsors we are able to provide a high quality mountain racing experience. We believe that mountain biking is the ‘T-Ball’ of cycling and several League alumni athletes are now racing on professional teams at events like the Tour of California and the Sea Otter Classic. Regardless of ability level, the Minnesota League is committed to providing a positive experience for all student-athletes.  For more details visit our website at: www.minnesotamtb.org

Matt Fritzinger, a teacher at Berkeley High, founded the League with the 2001 NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing Series. As the coach of the Berkeley High team he saw that a school team could succeed, but that competition would be required for it to thrive. In the first series mountain bikers from schools all over Northern California answered the call and came to compete as semi-organized high school teams. Now well over 50 California schools offer well organized mountain bike programs and is spreading to states all over.

The League is committed to teaching safe riding practices. We believe forming high school teams is the best way for students to learn how to ride safely. To learn safe riding technique or learn how to teach these skills, join our next rider camp or coaches conference. For up to date news and info join our e-mail list, or send an e-mail directly to gary@minnesotamtb.org and let us know how you’d like to get involved.

Mission Statement

The Minnesota High School Cycling League works to establish and maintain safe, quality high school mountain bike programs. The League is responsible for establishing a climate that will:

• Provide students who have the desire to mountain bike with the coaching and camaraderie that will help them achieve both competitive and non-competitive cross-country mountain biking goals in a safe and enjoyable manner;
• Develop an awareness of what it is to be an amateur athlete that is both gracious and respectful to their community;
• Create an environment in which they may discover new friendships and find role models;
• Guide students towards learning new skills and disciplines, and spread the foundations of mountain bike racing across the U.S.;
• Foster a responsible attitude toward the use of trails and wilderness;
• Promote the value of cycling to our community as a mode of transportation and as a life long sport.

                                                    January, 2011
Perhaps you’ve heard about the effort to start a high school mountain bike racing league in Minnesota.  To help bring racers and parents up to date, we’ve listed some information below about the new league in the form of questions and answers.  Keep in mind that this effort is just starting, and much of the information listed here is proposed until final details can be worked out.  If you have further questions, please contact Minnesota High School Cycling League Founding Chair Gary Sjoquist at garys@qbp.com.

1. We’ve read about something called NICA.  What exactly is NICA and what does it do?  NICA stands for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.  It was launched in September of 2009.  Think of NICA as a governing body for high school mountain bike racing all across the U.S.  NICA sets up leagues in different states, and then works to build a statewide organization to administer the racing program in those particular states.  For more information on NICA, go to www.nationalmtb.org.  

2. We’ve also read about something called NorCal.  Where does NorCal fit into the picture?  NorCal was the first high school mountain bike racing program in the U.S.  It was started in Berkeley, CA, by a math teacher at Berkeley High School named Matt Fritzinger.  Matt started a mountain bike club for the Berkeley students, which then became a racing club when the students wanted to do more than just ride on trails.  Soon other schools wanted to join the racing, so Matt set up a league called NorCal so high schools in Marin County (near San Francisco) could race against each other.  NorCal has been operating as a league since 2001 and has about 600 high school aged youth racing mountain bikes.  It became so successful that schools in Southern California contacted Matt and asked for his help to set up a separate league called SoCal, which began racing in 2008. 

3. So what is the relationship between NorCal, SoCal, and NICA?  Matt realized that other states would want to set up leagues for high school youth to race mountain bikes.  So a separate nonprofit organization was formed in 2009 called NICA to help run NorCal and SoCal, and also start new leagues in other states.  NICA provides the guidance to set up these statewide leagues, and then helps them administer the racing programs.

4. What other states have high school mountain bike racing leagues?  Colorado started a league in 2010.  In 2011, Washington and Texas will start their own leagues, also under the umbrella of NICA.  In September, 2010, Minnesota was announced as the newest league to be formed with a goal of having a racing program in place Fall of 2012.  This new league is called the Minnesota High School Cycling League and will operate under NICA.

5. How will the Minnesota High School Cycling League operate? What happens on race day?  The Minnesota High School Cycling League will consist of a 4 or 5 race series, starting in September, 2012, and conclude with a State Championship Race in late October.  Each series event consists of two separate races;  Girls category (Freshmen, Jr. Varsity, and Varsity) and Boys category (Freshmen, Sophomore, Jr. Varsity, and Varsity).  The Girls race will include all three classes starting in waves separated by two minutes.  When the Girls have finished their race, the Boys race takes place (same format).  Racing starts 9 ish and finishes around 4 and concludes with an awards presentation.  Races typically take place on a Saturday or Sunday.  All racers will do the same course, but different lengths depending on class (Freshmen 2 laps, Jr. Varsity 4 laps, Varsity 6 laps, etc.)

6. How does the scoring work?  Racers are awarded individual points that go towards an overall point series award at the end of the season.  The final score may include bonuses for completing all races, a state champ bonus, and the lowest score of the season is dropped.  Individual medals are awarded at each race and also for the overall point series at the end of the season.  The point leader of each race category is given a “Leader’s Jersey” to wear at the next race.  Team scoring is based on top boy and girl riders from each team.  How many boys and girls are scored per team depends on the size of the League and the average team size.  Trophies are given to the top teams at each race, and overall series trophies awarded at the final event.

7. How are teams formed?  Where do the coaches come from?  Teams are based on high schools.  If not enough racers from one school come together to form a team, those individuals can still race on a composite team (made up of youth from several different schools) until a school-based team can be formed.  Coaches are often parents who are already mountain bikers (or racers) and who want to help build the league.  NICA provides guidelines to train and certify coaches as part of the program at the state level.

8. Where do these races take place?  NorCal races often require 8+ hours of travel for a team to get to the race site.  In Minnesota, it will be much easier.  We’ll use race sites around the metro area to begin with and expand into greater Minnesota as the league grows.  Some venues will be existing race sites like Buck Hill in Burnsville.  Other venues will likely be “built” for the events, similar to how high school cross country running events are staged in large parks like St. Paul’s Battle Creek.  NICA encourages leagues to have courses that get harder in the latter stages of the season so racers learn skills to deal with more technical challenges.

9. What is the relationship between the high school and the league?  There is no official affiliation, at least to begin with.  Each team will operate as a Club sport that represents the school.  Similar to soccer, which began as a club sport and eventually became an official school sanctioned sport, mountain bike racing at this point needs to show that it can grow and offer students a positive and rewarding experience at the high school level before it becomes an “official” sport like hockey or football.  Experience with NorCal has shown, however, that when a large number of students are racing, the school gets involved by offering training facilities and other resources because often the school’s teachers are leading the efforts as coaches or team helpers.

10. Can high school mountain bike racers earn a letter from their school by racing in the Minnesota High School Cycling League?  For now, the answer is no.  However, most high schools have a “Non School Organization” lettering process in place.  Some schools have this in place for activities like figure skating, where the participants have to achieve a certain level of testing and compete in certified competitions to earn a letter.   A goal of the Minnesota High School Cycling League will be to pursue this certification process so racers can earn a letter for their participation in camps, clinics, and races.  It’s going to take several years to set this process up, though.

11. Will the Minnesota High School Cycling League operate like NorCal?  Actually, the Colorado league is closer to what the Minnesota league will look like.  Go to www.coloradomtb.org and check out the races, the results, the scoring, etc.  Like Colorado, we believe that Minnesota will have better luck with a Fall racing program because trails are often still too wet and the weather too cold in April and May.

12.  Do high school aged youth really have to wait until Fall 2012 to start racing?  Actually, they don’t.  The Minnesota Mountain Bike Series (MNMBS) is a decade-old, statewide mountain bike racing program that has an 11 race schedule established for 2011.  The MNMBS will be offering a High School “demonstration series” for the 2011 and 2012 seasons to build awareness and interest in what a program geared for high school students would be like.  Details have yet to be finalized, but we’re working on adding a High School class to match existing age classes (15 and 16 years old in one class, 17 and 18 years old in a separate class) and to have team scoring as well.  For more information on how the MNMBS operates, go to www.mnmtbseries.com.

13. So if we want to form a team to take part in the MNMBS High School series for 2011, what should we do? Start by finding other high school aged mountain bikers who attend your high school (or a nearby school) who are either racing or might like to begin racing.  Talk to parents and find someone who is already racing in the series, or who has raced before, and who could serve as a coach.  If you can pull together at least 6 high school aged youth (including at least two girls) and find a parent or two to serve as coaches, Minnesota High School Cycling League Founding Chair Gary Sjoquist (garys@qbp.com) will help pull together a meeting at a local bike shop in your area about starting a team.  Topics at this meeting could include the racing program, setting up training schedules, racing procedures, etc.   Another topic would be how to hold a fundraiser to pay for jerseys or a popup tent so your team can hang together at the races.  By taking these steps to form a team for the 2011 season, you’ll be a step ahead when it comes to the Minnesota High School Cycling League series in 2012.

14. How can we learn more about the MNMBS series, where the races are, how to register, etc.?  Go to www.mnmtbseries.com and hit the Series Guidelines link to find out the nuts and bolts type stuff about the series.  The 2011 schedule is posted, too.  We haven’t announced the High School series dates yet, but we’ll have that posted early in March when the MNMBS Racer Guidebooks will be printed and distributed to bike shops.  Basically everything you need to know about racing in the MNMBS series is either on the web site or in the guidebook.

15. If parents are interested in helping get the Minnesota High School Cycling League going, what should they do?  On the MNMBS web site, on the left side under the tab marked High School Racing, is a presentation that was given at Quality Bicycle Products in October about NICA and the effort to build the Minnesota High School Cycling League.  Go through that presentation to learn more about the League Development Committee and the various committees that need to be staffed (Fundraising, Venues, Program Development, etc.).  We’ll also be posting details as they become available on the Minnesota High School Cycling League web site www.minnesotamtb.org.  At this early stage, it’s mostly administrative work that has to be done in the various committees, but finding people who can help us figure out how to set up and fund the league is a key first step.  NICA leagues operate on the fuel of volunteer effort from parents and others interested in making high school mountain bike racing a success, so we need people to step up and help us get this program going.  Questions about the League Development Committee or the subcommittees can be directed to Gary Sjoquist (garys@qbp.com).
 

                                                    January, 2011
Perhaps you’ve heard about the effort to start a high school mountain bike racing league in Minnesota.  To help bring racers and parents up to date, we’ve listed some information below about the new league in the form of questions and answers.  Keep in mind that this effort is just starting, and much of the information listed here is proposed until final details can be worked out.  If you have further questions, please contact Minnesota High School Cycling League Founding Chair Gary Sjoquist at garys@qbp.com.

1. We’ve read about something called NICA.  What exactly is NICA and what does it do?  NICA stands for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.  It was launched in September of 2009.  Think of NICA as a governing body for high school mountain bike racing all across the U.S.  NICA sets up leagues in different states, and then works to build a statewide organization to administer the racing program in those particular states.  For more information on NICA, go to www.nationalmtb.org.  

2. We’ve also read about something called NorCal.  Where does NorCal fit into the picture?  NorCal was the first high school mountain bike racing program in the U.S.  It was started in Berkeley, CA, by a math teacher at Berkeley High School named Matt Fritzinger.  Matt started a mountain bike club for the Berkeley students, which then became a racing club when the students wanted to do more than just ride on trails.  Soon other schools wanted to join the racing, so Matt set up a league called NorCal so high schools in Marin County (near San Francisco) could race against each other.  NorCal has been operating as a league since 2001 and has about 600 high school aged youth racing mountain bikes.  It became so successful that schools in Southern California contacted Matt and asked for his help to set up a separate league called SoCal, which began racing in 2008. 

3. So what is the relationship between NorCal, SoCal, and NICA?  Matt realized that other states would want to set up leagues for high school youth to race mountain bikes.  So a separate nonprofit organization was formed in 2009 called NICA to help run NorCal and SoCal, and also start new leagues in other states.  NICA provides the guidance to set up these statewide leagues, and then helps them administer the racing programs.

4. What other states have high school mountain bike racing leagues?  Colorado started a league in 2010.  In 2011, Washington and Texas will start their own leagues, also under the umbrella of NICA.  In September, 2010, Minnesota was announced as the newest league to be formed with a goal of having a racing program in place Fall of 2012.  This new league is called the Minnesota High School Cycling League and will operate under NICA.

5. How will the Minnesota High School Cycling League operate? What happens on race day?  The Minnesota High School Cycling League will consist of a 4 or 5 race series, starting in September, 2012, and conclude with a State Championship Race in late October.  Each series event consists of two separate races;  Girls category (Freshmen, Jr. Varsity, and Varsity) and Boys category (Freshmen, Sophomore, Jr. Varsity, and Varsity).  The Girls race will include all three classes starting in waves separated by two minutes.  When the Girls have finished their race, the Boys race takes place (same format).  Racing starts 9 ish and finishes around 4 and concludes with an awards presentation.  Races typically take place on a Saturday or Sunday.  All racers will do the same course, but different lengths depending on class (Freshmen 2 laps, Jr. Varsity 4 laps, Varsity 6 laps, etc.)

6. How does the scoring work?  Racers are awarded individual points that go towards an overall point series award at the end of the season.  The final score may include bonuses for completing all races, a state champ bonus, and the lowest score of the season is dropped.  Individual medals are awarded at each race and also for the overall point series at the end of the season.  The point leader of each race category is given a “Leader’s Jersey” to wear at the next race.  Team scoring is based on top boy and girl riders from each team.  How many boys and girls are scored per team depends on the size of the League and the average team size.  Trophies are given to the top teams at each race, and overall series trophies awarded at the final event.

7. How are teams formed?  Where do the coaches come from?  Teams are based on high schools.  If not enough racers from one school come together to form a team, those individuals can still race on a composite team (made up of youth from several different schools) until a school-based team can be formed.  Coaches are often parents who are already mountain bikers (or racers) and who want to help build the league.  NICA provides guidelines to train and certify coaches as part of the program at the state level.

8. Where do these races take place?  NorCal races often require 8+ hours of travel for a team to get to the race site.  In Minnesota, it will be much easier.  We’ll use race sites around the metro area to begin with and expand into greater Minnesota as the league grows.  Some venues will be existing race sites like Buck Hill in Burnsville.  Other venues will likely be “built” for the events, similar to how high school cross country running events are staged in large parks like St. Paul’s Battle Creek.  NICA encourages leagues to have courses that get harder in the latter stages of the season so racers learn skills to deal with more technical challenges.

9. What is the relationship between the high school and the league?  There is no official affiliation, at least to begin with.  Each team will operate as a Club sport that represents the school.  Similar to soccer, which began as a club sport and eventually became an official school sanctioned sport, mountain bike racing at this point needs to show that it can grow and offer students a positive and rewarding experience at the high school level before it becomes an “official” sport like hockey or football.  Experience with NorCal has shown, however, that when a large number of students are racing, the school gets involved by offering training facilities and other resources because often the school’s teachers are leading the efforts as coaches or team helpers.

10. Can high school mountain bike racers earn a letter from their school by racing in the Minnesota High School Cycling League?  For now, the answer is no.  However, most high schools have a “Non School Organization” lettering process in place.  Some schools have this in place for activities like figure skating, where the participants have to achieve a certain level of testing and compete in certified competitions to earn a letter.   A goal of the Minnesota High School Cycling League will be to pursue this certification process so racers can earn a letter for their participation in camps, clinics, and races.  It’s going to take several years to set this process up, though.

11. Will the Minnesota High School Cycling League operate like NorCal?  Actually, the Colorado league is closer to what the Minnesota league will look like.  Go to www.coloradomtb.org and check out the races, the results, the scoring, etc.  Like Colorado, we believe that Minnesota will have better luck with a Fall racing program because trails are often still too wet and the weather too cold in April and May.

12.  Do high school aged youth really have to wait until Fall 2012 to start racing?  Actually, they don’t.  The Minnesota Mountain Bike Series (MNMBS) is a decade-old, statewide mountain bike racing program that has an 11 race schedule established for 2011.  The MNMBS will be offering a High School “demonstration series” for the 2011 and 2012 seasons to build awareness and interest in what a program geared for high school students would be like.  Details have yet to be finalized, but we’re working on adding a High School class to match existing age classes (15 and 16 years old in one class, 17 and 18 years old in a separate class) and to have team scoring as well.  For more information on how the MNMBS operates, go to www.mnmtbseries.com.

13. So if we want to form a team to take part in the MNMBS High School series for 2011, what should we do? Start by finding other high school aged mountain bikers who attend your high school (or a nearby school) who are either racing or might like to begin racing.  Talk to parents and find someone who is already racing in the series, or who has raced before, and who could serve as a coach.  If you can pull together at least 6 high school aged youth (including at least two girls) and find a parent or two to serve as coaches, Minnesota High School Cycling League Founding Chair Gary Sjoquist (garys@qbp.com) will help pull together a meeting at a local bike shop in your area about starting a team.  Topics at this meeting could include the racing program, setting up training schedules, racing procedures, etc.   Another topic would be how to hold a fundraiser to pay for jerseys or a popup tent so your team can hang together at the races.  By taking these steps to form a team for the 2011 season, you’ll be a step ahead when it comes to the Minnesota High School Cycling League series in 2012.

14. How can we learn more about the MNMBS series, where the races are, how to register, etc.?  Go to www.mnmtbseries.com and hit the Series Guidelines link to find out the nuts and bolts type stuff about the series.  The 2011 schedule is posted, too.  We haven’t announced the High School series dates yet, but we’ll have that posted early in March when the MNMBS Racer Guidebooks will be printed and distributed to bike shops.  Basically everything you need to know about racing in the MNMBS series is either on the web site or in the guidebook.

15. If parents are interested in helping get the Minnesota High School Cycling League going, what should they do?  On the MNMBS web site, on the left side under the tab marked High School Racing, is a presentation that was given at Quality Bicycle Products in October about NICA and the effort to build the Minnesota High School Cycling League.  Go through that presentation to learn more about the League Development Committee and the various committees that need to be staffed (Fundraising, Venues, Program Development, etc.).  We’ll also be posting details as they become available on the Minnesota High School Cycling League web site www.minnesotamtb.org.  At this early stage, it’s mostly administrative work that has to be done in the various committees, but finding people who can help us figure out how to set up and fund the league is a key first step.  NICA leagues operate on the fuel of volunteer effort from parents and others interested in making high school mountain bike racing a success, so we need people to step up and help us get this program going.  Questions about the League Development Committee or the subcommittees can be directed to Gary Sjoquist (garys@qbp.com).