Danielle Hebert
Special to the Review
The mountain biking team from Revelstoke Secondary School recently traveled to Squamish to compete in the B.C. High School Provincial Championship.
Seven students (Reed Kelly, Taylor Chruszcz, Elliot Wilson, Francesco Morrone, Teigan Lenzi, Sam Larson, and Zoe Larson) traveled to compete along with coaching teachers, Jenn Avery and Craig Weiler.
This was the very first year that Revelstoke had a team competing at the event.
The riders each competed in two events, cross country and enduro races.
It was a wet and muddy morning with conditions drying up in the afternoon.
The highlight of the competition for the RSS team was definitely Reed Kelly’s podium finish for Grade 8 boys, he placed second in the enduro race.
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| It was a wet and muddy start to the weekend. (Photo via Facebook) |
The mountain biking team at RSS began only last year. As with most youth sport opportunities, it was made possible through a combination of efforts from various community members and organizations.
Local mountain bike guide and owner of Wandering Wheels, Matt Yaki, who was instrumental in getting the team started, said he has been working with youth riders of all ages for many years and was very keen to to assist in developing a formalized race team in conjunction with RSS.
He also said he had been looking for ways to connect young riders to races and only found out about the B.C. high school mountain bike championships in the past couple of years and approached the school to form a team.
The Stoke Youth Network also played a valuable role in starting up the team by assisting with programming outreach and grant funding.
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According to Leslie Hogg, the youth liaison with The Stoke Youth Network, the team began in 2018 as a mountain biking club at RSS.
Hogg said that the club was popular enough to transition into an official team in 2019 and direction and coaching of the team was then taken up by Jenn Avery, a teacher and coach at RSS.
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| Revelstoke Secondary School’s Reed Kelly finished 2nd in the Grade 8 boys enduro race. (Photo via Facebook) |
Thanks to the work of the strong and dedicated mountain biking community in Revelstoke, youth now have several options to get involved in the sport.
For riders aged 13-18 there is a free drop-in guided group ride scheduled every Tuesday evening from 5:30-7:30, beginning on July 2. The event is called Pedals N’ Pop, and is a non-competitive riding event. All youth, are welcome to join, regardless of their experience with mountain biking.
For other community members or businesses looking to get more involved, RSS will be looking for fundraising and sponsorship partners for next year’s team.
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