Greetings Parents and Student Athletes!
This is Shawn Gentry, Team Director & Head Coach for the Myers Park MTB Thoroughbreds and I’d like to tell you all how excited I am about the 2019/2020 NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) mountain bike racing season. I am fresh from 3 days in Morganton, NC where I attended the NICA Leadership Summit, a gathering of the coaches and leaders of the NCICL (North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League, the state-specific NICA league) and I’m full of information I want to share!
Information about NICA: https://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/biking/the-rise-of-nica/
NICA Website: https://www.nationalmtb.org/
NCICL Website: http://www.northcarolinamtb.org/
Join the League's Newsletter: http://www.northcarolinamtb.org/media-center/join-newsletter/
FACTS
Our league in North Carolina is the fastest-growing in the United States and I’m hoping our team will grow tremendously from last year. We had 11 Student Athletes on our team last year and I’m hoping to double that number (or more…) this year and I need your help spreading the word and recruiting new team members. Please feel free to forward this email to any Student Athletes or family friends who may be interested. In addition to student athletes from Myers Park High School, this year our team is officially a “composite” team, meaning we are made up of students from a group of schools. This year, we are adding students from the three Middle Schools that “feed” into Myers Park HS: Carmel, Randolph, and Alexander Graham.
HISTORY
Last season, I volunteered well over 200 hours of my time to establish and coach the team with the help of some very generous parents and an Assistant Coach, John Harding. Our uniforms were paid in-full by Shawn McClaren, Quinn’s Dad; our pit area including tools, bike stands and other supplies were all purchased by Brad Wallace, Forbes’ Dad; My travel and accommodations for all races were paid for by Brad Wallace and Andy Burgin, Everett’s Dad, and John Harding stepped up to help me coach the team by regularly attending practice and sharing his knowledge of conditioning and endurance training. Neither John nor I had a Student Athlete on the team last year. Toward the end of the year, we brought on a bike shop partner, The Bike Gallery http://www.bikegalleryclt.com/, Charlotte’s oldest family-owned-and-operated bike shop and the youngest of the Lizarazo family, Christian joined the coaching staff to lend his expertise as a strength and conditioning coach and nutritionist.
FEES
This year, I am asking that all families involved share the cost of running the team, including a modest stipend paid to me for my time and effort. This will be paid directly to me in the name of my LLC, “CLT MTB - Charlotte Mountain Biking” via my website, www.CLTMTB.com. Registration and Sponsor Donation forms will go live on the website this Friday, September 20.
I am asking each family to pay a Signup Fee of $99 per Student Athlete due before October 1 to join the program for the 2019/2020 school year. Additionally, a Membership Fee of $179 per month, per Student Athlete will be due before the first of each month (a 15% Sibling Discount for families with more than one Student Athlete is available upon request - applicable to Signup Fee and Membership Fees).
If families are interested in paying for the full 7 month season up front, I am offering a discounted rate of $1,250 per Student athlete (the 15% Sibling Discount applies to this as well) which covers Signup Fee and 7 months of Membership Fees. Additional support via donations (either cash or in-kind) are greatly appreciated and can also be submitted online at CLTMTB.com OR Venmo. Registration and Donation Forms will be live on the website this Friday, September 20.
Charges paid to CLT MTB do not cover fees due to NICA for joining the league, or race fees. This year, those fees will total $300 per Student Athlete who registers for all 5 races ($175 reg. + $25 per race).
The Bike Gallery has made us an amazing offer - if we put together a team order for Student Athletes who will on the team this year, SCOTT will give us all a 25% discount across the board on our order of SCOTT: Scale, Aspect, Spark, and Genius mountain bikes: https://www.scott-sports.com/us/en/products/bike-bikes-mountain
UNIFORMS
Returning riders will be able to wear the same uniforms and practice jerseys as last season. This year, I will submit a re-order for all new Student Athletes so all uniforms match. Each race uniform is custom made from VERGE and costs approximately $175. Practice Jerseys will be made locally by Carolina Stickers & Signs and cost around $25 each.
OTHER RACES
I also plan to train and support all Student Athletes with whom I work in competing as “TEAM CLT MTB” at The Winter Short Track Series at Renaissance Park, as well as the Half (or Whole) Enchilada at the US National Whitewater Center, as well as other local and regional races. If you have a race in mind, please let me know so I can look into it and consider adding it to our schedule for the season. Training and racing throughout the Fall and Winter will build strong, confident riders who will excel during the NICA race season March - May.
SCHEDULE
Starting Saturday, November 2 we will begin pre-season activities, meeting every Tuesday and Thursday after school for 2 hours and Saturday afternoons for 3 hours. Additional group rides and get-togethers will be announced. Formal practice will begin December 1 following the same schedule for all HighSchool-aged students. Middle school students will meet every Saturday morning for 3 hours and participate in full-day Camps every Teacher Workday, School Holiday, and early dismissal day (first drop-off at 7:30am and last pickup by 5:30pm). Our home-base of operations for drop-off and pick-up will be the public greenway parking lot directly across from the Marion Diehl Center and Queens University Sports Complex on Tyvola Rd. Middle School-aged student athletes will meet at Shelter #2 at Park Road Park for Day Camps on Teacher Workdays and Holidays starting in November. Practice will consist of drills to build mountain biking skills, calisthenics and stretching, lessons in outdoorsmanship, trailside repairs, bicycle maintenance, basic first aid, and of course… LOTS of trail rides!
SPRING 2020 RACE SCHEDULE
RACE #1 - March 7&8 - Brown’s Creek, Elizabethtown
RACE #2 - March 21&22 - TBD
RACE #3 - April 4&5 - Quaker Lake Camp, Climax
RACE #4 - April 18&19 - Dark Mountain, N. Wilkesboro
RACE #5 - May 2&3 - Farris Memorial Park, Mayodan
Okay… that is all for now. I know that’s a lot for one email, but I told you… I have a lot of information to share! We will have a parent meeting for Q&A very soon at a location TBA, but for now, feel free to respond to this email, share it with anyone you know who may be interested, or give me a call or text at 704-266-2581
Thanks so much for your time! I look forward to seeing everyone soon.
Coach Shawn
SHAWN GENTRY 704.266.2581
Director, CLT ⚡MTB
Director/Head Coach, MPMTB Thoroughbreds
BICP Level 2 - Intermediate MTB Skills Instructor
PMBIA Level 1 - Intermediate MTB Skills Instructor & Ride Guide
NICA Level 1 - Certified Coach
NOLS WFR - Wilderness First Responder
American Red Cross - First Aid, Adult & Child CPR