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DRAPER — High school mountain biking is growing in popularity, and Corner Canyon High School has the largest mountain biking team in the nation.
The National Interscholastic Cycling Association was founded in 2009 to develop high school mountain biking programs for student-athletes across the U.S., according to its website. Utah High School Cycling League executive director Lori Harward said she first heard about NICA when she and her husband attended a coaches summit in October 2011. As an avid biker and coach, Harward said she was fascinated with the program and wanted to establish a team in Utah.
“We thought, ‘This is amazing,’ ” Harward said. “We are completely immersed in the cycling community because of the coaching and also racing. We both race both mountain bikes and road bikes. As we started telling our friends about it, more and more of them were like, ‘Well geez, I could start a team at my kids’ school.’ ”
Harward said with the widespread interest for high school mountain biking throughout the state, she entered a bid in June 2011 for a NICA league in Utah. NICA granted Utah an official league that fall and several teams were organized. Harward said the interest in high school mountain biking continued to grow, jumping from 321 registered students in 2012 to 949 this year and a total of 51 high school teams.
Corner Canyon High School quickly gained the largest mountain biking team in the U.S. with 75 athletes in 2013 and 107 athletes this year. Volunteer head coach Whitney Pogue said she loves the program because of the core values it teaches teens and how anyone can be involved.
“Anyone who wants to participate has the opportunity to do so,” Pogue said. “There’s no tryouts. There’s no bench. It’s not like you’re the A team or the B team. Anybody can come out.”
Since the mountain biking league is not a high-school sanctioned sport, Pogue said all of the coaches are volunteers and much of the equipment is either donated or sponsored by local companies. Many volunteers also help with the weekly practices and the five races throughout Utah during the season.
“The manpower and the volunteer hours that go into this league here and nationwide is incredible,” Pogue said. “It’s really touching to see how many people are willing to give of themselves and of their time. It makes a difference in these kids’ lives.”
Harward said the interest in the program has made it sustainable and she plans to continue the Utah Cycling League “for the long run.”
