HS sports switch gears to two wheels

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Mountain biking has long been the sport of choice for people seeking a fun and challenging way to exercise outdoors. Now, the sport is on the verge of becoming a staple in a new setting: Texas high schools.

The Texas High School Mountain Bike Racing League will create mountain biking teams in high schools across the state. Founding Committee Chair, Vance McMurry, said the interest in mountain biking teams among high school students, school district administrators, and school administrators around Texas has been “absolutely incredible” so far.

There are close to 200 people in the high school league’s Facebook group and around 300 have subscribed to newsletters. Even 8- and 9-year-old kids have expressed interest in being part of a mountain biking team when they get to high school.

“It’s a matter of putting that structure in place,” said McMurry.

Austin high schools and students are eager to make mountain biking a part of school. Michele Rusnak, Director of Physical Education for the Austin Independent School District , was the keynote speaker at a movie showing of “Ride the Divide” hosted by Alamo Drafthouse and the Texas High School Mountain Bike Racing League, where she committed to introducing high school mountain biking programs in Austin.

“Mountain biking is a great sport for its cardiovascular, and you get to be outside so you get your vitamin D,” said Rusnak.

AISD will include mountain biking as a part of its pilot program for alternative sports and activities beginning in the spring, according to Rusnak, who said that mountain biking will meet the needs of students who have been cut from more traditional sports teams or are looking for alternative forms of exercise.

An important component of the future mountain biking teams’ structure comes from the National Interscholastic Cycling Association , or NICA, which was founded by California cyclist Matt Fritzinger with the goal of realizing coast-to-coast high school mountain biking by 2020. The Texas league is currently considered one of NICA’s emerging leagues, and is applying to be a project league in 2011.

“If you look at NICA’s board of directors, they are the leadership of the cycling world. Specialized, Trek, SRAM, Easton Foundation, Shimano, and Clif Bar are all represented,” said McMurry. “It’s the who’s who of the cycling industry.”

Within the state, Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop was the founding sponsor.

“We set out specifically to ensure that this would not be a rich-kid program,” said McMurry.

Being a NICA Project League would allow the Texas league to have advantages like discounts from its sponsors, enabling the league to provide “team bikes” so that students who cannot afford their own bike can use one and be a part of the team. A bike and bike-component donation program is another essential piece to this program. Collection points will be established throughout the state to allow anyone to donate used mountain bike frames and components to support the League.

There are no tryouts, unlike many other high schools sports teams, and students who don’t know how to ride a bike are welcome to join and learn during pre-season camps hosted by the league.

Although mountain biking is new to the scene, high school cycling programs have been around in Texas for a few years. The Texas High School Cycling League came into existence in 2006 and has hosted several spring road racing series since. According to Andrew Armstrong, the road cycling league’s director, there have been 60 individual participants for the past two years representing 25 different schools.

“Cycling is a sport that carries over into the rest of people’s lives and it’s a life-long sport in that in the long run it can be a viable sport,” said Armstrong, referencing college cycling teams who often recruit members from the cycling league’s high school teams.

Whether it is road or mountain biking, cycling is taking over in Texas high schools. For more information about developing a mountain biking team in your area go to www.texasmtb.org or contact Vance McMurry, vance@texasmtb.org.