High school cycling leaders will visit Madison, Wisconsin

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) is hosting an educational outreach event in Madison, Wisconsin, on November 16 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm with the aim of forming new high school mountain bike clubs in the state and region.

The Madison outreach event - led by NICA's Executive Director and the Development Director, Matt Fritzinger and Ben Capron - will outline NICA's vision and methods, as well as how people can get involved in the flourishing high school mountain bike movement.

In September, NICA launched its Indie Club Program, whereby high school mountain bike clubs can join NICA as fully insured and supported high school mountain bike clubs before a formal league exists. New Wisconsin clubs may also participate in the recently formed Minnesota League. The meeting will include discussions about the formation of clubs, and also answer questions about the process of forming a Wisconsin league.

The Minnesota and Wisconsin initiatives are part of NICA's plan to establish mountain biking as a high school sport reaching from coast to coast by 2020. NICA currently has leagues in California, Colorado, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington. This year, 15 new states enquired about becoming a NICA League.

NICA founder, Matt Fritzinger said, "A lot of outstanding mountain biking development work has already been done in Wisconsin. We are hoping to put the high school piece into this puzzle, and are looking for a range of people who will create new high school cycling leagues. Mountain biking is our focus, which we find provides a great basis life long involvement in all disciplines of cycling."

NICA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Leagues receive no funding from schools, school districts, athletic funds or any other tax-based revenue.

The Wisconsin meeting will be held at the Madison Concourse Hotel, 1 West Dayton Street in Madison. For more information, visit nationalmtb.org/wi-outreach.