USA Cycling announces winners of the 2011 CLUB OF THE YEAR AWARDS!
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Whole Athlete-Specialized won Mountain Bike Club of the Year.
Winning clubs were chosen for exhibiting excellence in several areas including race promotion, membership composition, instructional clinics and seminars, club activities, charity work, and race performance.
Three overall “Club of the Year” winners were named in Division I (76+ members), Division II (30-75 members), and Division III (1-29 members). Additionally, seven clubs are being honored with special awards in the following categories: Junior/High School, Collegiate, Masters, Track, Mountain Bike, Best New Club, and Women.
Matrix Cycling Club (Dallas, Texas) took the top honors as “Overall Club of the Year” in Division I. Founded in 1984, the club has a nearly 30-year history of supporting riders of all ages and ability levels. Of its 210 members, 65 are junior riders. The club’s mission to promote and develop cycling is met through various initiatives like its first-time racer clinics at each of the 15 TMBRA races in 2011, or through stipends awarded to any club member (no matter the ability level) that competes in national or world championship competition. Learn more at www.matrixcycleclub.org.
Marian University took top honors in the Collegiate category.
Named “Best New Club” in 2010, the North Carolina group grew into a coast-to-coast operation in 2011 with several of its 35 riders competing in venues across the country. The club prides itself in helping its members progress by creating a true team environment, offering learning and development opportunities, an d fostering camaraderie. Learn more on the club’s facebook page.
Holland Racing (Austin, Texas) is not your typical cycling club. Winner of the Division III “Overall Club of the Year” award for 2011, Holland members aren’t dedicated to race results. They’re dedicated to putting on races. The members race for other clubs or teams. As a member of Holland, they permit races with the mission of growing Texas bicycling one event at a time. In 2011, the club permitted eight events with USA Cycling for a total of 44 racing days. Looks like they’re well on their way to raising the bar for event production in Austin and the entire Central Texas region. Learn more at www.hollandracing.org.
Being honored in 2011 as USA Cycling’s “Junior/High School Club of the Year,” Team Velosport (Irvine, Calif.) operates with a clear mission of introducing local youth to cycling. The parent-run structure keeps costs low so that ALL juniors are welcomed to the club to learn about safe riding skills, team tactics, junior-specific rules, equipment and maintenance, nutrition, and racing skills. The club hosted over 120 team rides this year, including a ride up Mt. Baldy to see stage seven of the Tour of California. The Southern California club currently consists of 37 junior members and in 2011 sent six riders to USA Cycling regional development camps. Learn more at www.teamvelosport.com.
After taking on management of the Lake Sullivan Sports Complex and revitalizing the Major Taylor Velodrome – Marian University (Indianapolis, Ind.) is USA Cycling’s 2011 “Collegiate Club of the Year.” The members of the team, including Coryn Rivera, Kaitlin Antonneau, and Adam Liebovitz, accomplished an average GPA of 3.04 in 2011, permitted 14 events with USA Cycling, and claimed the Division I Team Omniums at both the USA Cycling Collegiate Road AND Collegiate Track National Championships. Read more at www.muknights.com.
For the second year in a row, the Cross Creek Cycling Club (Fayetteville, N.C.) is named USA Cycling’s “Masters Club of the Year.” Not only did the group increase its membership by 21% in 2011, but it puts great effort into its cycling rehabilitation program for wounded veterans. Read more about this great club and what it does for America’s heroes at www.crosscreekcyclingclub.org.
In the “Track Club of the Year” contest, Rubicon Cycling LLC (Vancouver, Wash.) took top honors in 2011 for its creation and management of the elite track cycling team, Project London. The squad, which consists of Kevin Mansker, Michael Blatchford, Daniel Walker, Jimmy Watkins, and Dean Tracy, boasts eight new US track records and a Pan American Games silver medal. While developing athletes to fulfill their Olympic dreams, Rubicon focuses on community service and supporting LIVESTRONG. Read more at www.projectlondon2012.com.
Whole Athlete-Specialized (San Anselmo, Calif.) was named USA Cycling’s “Mountain Bike Club of the Year” in 2011. Primarily a junior development organization, the club provides coaching, training support, bike fitting, nutritional counseling, sport psychology, and skills training. In its three years of existence, it has always qualified riders to the world championship teams, and in 2011, its members claimed 71 victories including seven national titles. Read more at http://www.wholeathlete.com/team.htm.
It’s no wonder Credo Racing (Austin, Texas) won the “Best New Club” award this year. In addition to co-sponsoring two events and winning multiple regional and state titles, Credo’s members make community service a priority. In fact, the group beat out the Austin City Limits Music Festival to take the Keep Austin Beautiful Litter Abatement award. The members are also very involved with two middle schools where they provide after school bike maintenance and riding classes to at-risk kids. Read more at www.credoracing.com.
And last, but certainly not least, the “Women’s Club of the Year” award goes to CAWES/iFractal (Bethesda, Md.). These ladies are advocates for safer and healthier lifestyles through bike friendly legislation. They even created legal tip cards which they hand out in the D.C. area to help promote safety to all cyclists. In addition to their work to advance policy initiatives, the CAWES partner with the IM ABLE Foundation, as well as Special Olympic athletes, to advocate cycling for EVERYONE. Read more at www.cawescycling.com.
Congratulations to all of our 2011 “Club of the Year” winners!
DIVISION I: Matrix Cycling Club (Dallas, Texas)
DIVISION II: Full Spectrum Racing (Fayetteville, N.C.)
DIVISION III: Holland Racing (Austin, Texas)
JUNIOR/HIGH SCHOOL CLUB: Team Velosport (Irvine, Calif.)
COLLEGIATE CLUB: Marian University (Indianapolis, Ind.)
MASTERS CLUB: Cross Creek Cycling Club (Fayetteville, N.C.)
TRACK CLUB: Rubicon Cycling LLC (Vancouver, Wash.)
MOUNTAN BIKE CLUB: Whole Athlete-Specialized (San Anselmo, Calif.)
BEST NEW CLUB: Credo Racing (Austin, Texas)
WOMEN’S CLUB: CAWES/iFractal (Bethesda, Md.)
This Article Published December 16, 2011 For more information contact:
