'We can do better' – AusCycling re-examines junior development pathway for talented young Australians

With an Olympic Games to be hosted by Australia in just seven years and the professional ranks of road racing increasingly leaning toward younger and younger riders, the importance of getting the pathway right for developing young riders from the nation couldn't be clearer, so it's not surprising that AusCycling decided it was time to run the ruler over its junior selection pathway.

CEO Marne Fechner said queries were being raised at an organisational level, by parents, community and coaches about issues from how the system stacks up against others to why more athletes weren't being taken away to compete.

That led to the questions, said Fechner, of: "How do we nurture these kids, and are we doing the best job we can? Where we landed was, 'we can do better'."

AusCycling, formed from the binding of federations across varied cycling disciplines in 2020, is the nation's recognised cycling body and works across the grassroots level to elite. It hosts National Championships events, plays a part in bidding for international events and also holds sway in the selection of athletes to represent Australia at World Championships events, even if, at junior level many of the national teams and programs are self-funded.

To guide the process, AusCycling appointed Chelsea Warr, who has wide ranging experience in both the British and Australian high performance space, delivered a report that identified 10 "considerations" which included defining and communicating a clearer pathway strategy with embedded rider development and selection principles, improved communication of selection criteria, minimum performance standards, integration of the development and selection process, a separation of the policy for Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines – which according to the report "feel undeserved and overlooked by the current policy" – and unlocking sponsorship, philanthropy and partnerships to help with resourcing.

"The 10 findings that we are now looking at how to implement, those are really clear. I think the consultation that happened was great, the engagement was fantastic. This matters to people, which is good," said Fechner, with how much it matters evident by the responses to the report on social media.

The fact that many were less than positive, however, highlights that AusCycling has a challenge ahead as it works to bring along athletes, parents and coaches as well as the broader sporting public along for the rider as it works to implement the recommendations by the middle of next year.

One of the hurdles is that government funding for high performance in Australia – the federation's largest source of money – is focused on Olympic and Paralympic sports, with that funding which comes from the Australian Sports Commission, an allocation of $14,643,022 in the 2024/25 financial year, largely tied to medal prospects. Still, AusCycling represents a number of disciplines that fall outside that realm, and there are also many more events where the national federation is expected to step in.

"Certainly one of our biggest challenges is not having enough resource, probably to meet the expectations of the community," said Fechner.

"The reality is that the UCI has World Championships, and for those we are responsible for selecting teams and sending teams. "A large portion of our performance pathways, and when we get to World Championships, is funded in part or fully by athletes."

Road World Championships are certainly just one part of the puzzle, with a range of opportunities supported including junior development camps, but to use the event which is currently underway as an example, AusCycling said it funds a range of significant expenses to enable all its athletes to compete, which include staff, clothing costs and distribution, compliance requirements, administration and logistics that are generally not charged to athletes.

There are then levies to cover the costs directly associated with their participation, from flights to accommodation and meals, and while AusCycling's contribution to these for elite athletes was 100%, the cover was reduced to 50% for U23 riders and for the junior riders there is none, and U19s have also been asked to pay a small component of staff costs.

Australia is certainly not alone when it comes to finding resource constraints an issue that can leave funding lacking to cover the costs of junior riders' participation, with Megan Jastrab, for example, putting together a fundraiser to help assist junior women make it to the Road World Championships in Rwanda and Denmark deciding not to send either U23 or Junior riders.

The realities for a nation where most junior riders are half a world away from key international competition are that there is very little that can be accessed without a considerable outlay, by either the rider or the federation.

"One of the areas of focus that will be out of the review is, how do we think creatively around setting up foundations?" said Fechner. "What are the other options that we can bring more resource into the organisation that would offset and support athletes – whether in junior pathways, Olympic or non-Olympic or Paralympic – that are currently funding their participation in the sport?"

There were plenty of areas for improvement identified, which pinpointed a "flag on the hill", but Fechner also said it was still working through the process of articulating "what dies great actually look like".

"There are a few things in there that are going to be really interesting and challenging for us to look at, because it still fundamentally doesn't necessarily address the resources in the system, and we have a big family," said Fecner.

"So how do we actually be really clear and transparent about what we are doing and not doing? How do we make sure that our policies and programs and practices and the pathway, the actual pathway itself, is really crystal clear for everyone? We definitely don't have all of the answers yet, but we've got a very clear roadmap for how we're going to enhance and improve our system and and you know, we want to give it a red hot crack. But we also understand there's cynicism in the system, and the proof will be what we deliver."

Findings

• Define and communicate a clearer, visible, and 2032+ focused Pathway Strategy
• Define and embed rider development and selection principles that guide all key development activities
• Uplift communication and education of selection policy and criteria
• Define minimum performance standards for World Junior selection
• Integrating selection and development - squad-to-team approach
• A tiered selection approach to balance performance and future pathway depth
• Strengthening junior selection panels and feedback loops
• Harnessing volunteer expertise to support WJC campaigns
• Separate Olympic and Non-Olympic Policy
• Resourcing WJC’s – unlocking sponsorship, philanthropy and partnerships