November 24/99 1:50 am - Wedge Added To CC Awards, Gala, Letter

Posted by Editor on 11/24/99
 

Canadian Cyclist Awards

We have added Peter Wedge to the Male Rider voting section. As a number of people pointed out, he won medals in pretty much every National Championship event he entered. If you want to add a vote specifically for Peter (and not revote on Female or Individual Performance), then go to the voting page and just select his name from the mail list and submit your ballot.


Cycling News Release

Canadian Cyclist becomes the Official Cycling Media Partner of the PacificSport National Cycling Centre.... National magazine and website to assist in promotion of events.

November 22, 1999

Victoria, BC - Canadian Cyclist, a national magazine and website, is the latest partner to join the PacificSport National Cycling Centre.

The relationship with the Ontario-based media outlet commences with magazine and website promotion of the upcoming PacificSport National Cycling Centre Champions of Cycling Awards Gala and runs through the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. It also includes promotion of major events hosted in conjunction with the Centre, most notably the Bastion Square Cycling Festival, and promotion of the variety of programs offered by the Centre.

"We're convinced that Canadian Cyclist is the most effective voice of the national cycling community, both as a magazine and as an interactive website," said Yury Kashirin, Director and Head Coach of the PacificSport National Cycling Centre. "This support will help us raise the profile of our programs, events and most importantly, our athletes."

Canadian Cyclist joins Saunders Subaru in becoming a sport specific partner of the PacificSport National Cycling Centre.

The Canadian Cyclist website featuring, among other information, up-to-date reports on what Canadian cyclists are doing on the roads, tracks and mountain trails of the world, is located at www.canadiancyclist.com.

The Gala, to be held Dec. 2, 1999 at the Ocean Pointe Resort ballroom, will include an extensive silent auction, dinner and awards ceremony. A new feature this year is an on-line fundraising auction with items such as Schwinn and Huffy bikes. It will
run November 15-30 on the Canadian Cyclist website. Tickets for the Gala are available by calling PacificSport Group National Sport Centre - Greater Victoria at (250) 744-3583. The deadline for $60 tickets has been extended to November 29. After that, individual tickets will be $75.

Editor's Note: We will be presenting the Canadian Cyclist Awards at the Gala next weekend. Also, you now have one week to place your bids for the Silent Auction.


Letter

Dear Canadian Cyclist,

In response to the article regarding proposed CCA changes I would like to offer some insight to readers from the athlete development perspective.

I am the Junior Development Coach at the Olympic Oval, National Cycling Training Development Centre, Calgary, Alberta. The NCTDC is one of 4 CCA development centres in Canada. The other centres are in Victoria, Bromont and the Hardwood Hills.

Each of the centres gets a fair amount of attention because many of Canada's top cyclists train at one of the Centres or under the guidance of a Centre coach.

It is important to know that each Centre has a strong development program that many athletes can access.

In Calgary, we have 35 junior athletes who train in the Centre on a year-round basis. The riders train together in daily coached workouts that include cycling (indoor and outdoor), strength training and with services such as nutrition and sport psych. This program has been running for the past three years and is supported by the CCA, Olympic Oval and National Sport Centre, Calgary as well as a local retailer, The Bike Shop.

The Centre's mandate, in terms of development riders, is to create new cyclists and see that they reach the National/International level as Senior athletes.

Looking at the Calgary Centre, there are many good examples of young riders who have made it to the National level through the the development program. These athletes were not full time cyclists when they first came to the Centre.

Here are three examples:

Jenny Trew: (A junior up to 1999 season)
3 years cycling - background in swimming
National Sprint Champion - Track, 1999
Road Nationals, Sherbrooke - Bronze
TT Nationals, Sherbrooke - Silver
MTB Nationals, Camp Fortune, 12th
Provincial Road and Track Team Member
Years in Centre Program: 3

Zach Davis: (A junior up to 1999 season)
3 years cycling - background in school sports
TT Nationals, Sherbrooke - Silver
Pursuit, Track Nationals, - Silver
Abitibi - 8th place overall in Time Trial
Provincial Road and Track Team member
Years in Centre Program: 3

Laura Yoisten: (First year junior for 2000)
3 years cycling - background in swimming
1998 MTB Nationals - Vernon - National Cadet Champion
(Championship Category)
1999 MTB Nationals - Sherbrooke - Bronze
Years in Centre Program: 3

There are many other riders in Canada who have developed in one of the CCA's development centres. Each of the Centres has at least one dedicated coach who is there specifically for development riders.

It is interesting that at Track Nationals, Mountain Bike Nationals and Road Nationals, several of the medals in the junior categories were won by athletes training at a CCA development Centre. These athletes wear local club colours or Provincial colours at the championships.

It is important to know that there are individuals in each province who are putting their expertise and energy into development riders. There are also several other CCA development centre's being created so that athletes can get National level coaching. Hopefully, someday, every province will have a development centre of their own.

The proposed changes you reported on the web are interesting. I am confident that any changes the CCA makes will benefit the sport of cycling and the riders specifically.

An organization is most effective and action oriented when there are dedicated people who are paid to do a job right. Because CCA staff are not elected, does not mean that they will act without accountability to the CCA membership. It simply means that work will be done by people who have one single priority - cycling.

The proposed changes you have reported would lead to an effective group that works full-time on the sport of cycling. This is the current state of affairs in all of the worlds's best cycling countries. In order to compete, we must function at the same level.

Regardless of where riders are learning about the sport, I hope that everyone will do their part to get the focus of our sport onto the athletes. Stop worrying about politics and power. Ask yourself what is best for athletes? This is the only issue that matters! If we all do this, regardless of where we are, the athletes will come to our exciting sport and the champions of tomorrow will be there in the future.

Sincerely,

Dan Proulx
Junior Development Coach
Olympic Oval, NCTDC