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A year in review

As 2023 comes to an end, the Coach Education team would like to thank over 14,000 registered NICA coaches across the country for their dedication to creating life-changing experiences through youth mountain bike programming.
During our first year of hosting content at The Trailhead, we’ve created a growing library of updates, resources, featured articles, and coach community highlights! We’re excited to keep adding relevant, timely content for our coaches in 2024.

Here are some highlights of what we published for coaches in 2023. In addition, we encourage coaches to access several new permanent resources/references linked through our coach resource library. Coaches can find these resources within the NICA Education Center.

We hope our coaches can continue to refer back to these articles and resources again and again for use on their teams and within their own personal coaching practice!

We’re stoked for 2024 and can’t wait to see all the amazing things our coaches accomplish.

How can we help you reach your goals? Connect with us and share what you’d like to see at The Trailhead in the upcoming year!

Have you ever…

Have you ever…wanted to build more community within your team? Then this game is for you! Laugh your way through a series of questions and find out what you have in common with your fellow teammates and coaches…

Preseason Coach Education Reminder

As you head into your season, please take a moment to check your NICA Pit Zone profile and make sure your NICA license status is at a minimum level 1 before you begin participating in activities with your student-athletes. If you plan to lead any athletes on-trail, ensure that you are license level 2 or 3 before hitting the singletrack.

Something True/Something False

This simple get-to-know-you game is great for the beginning of the season. It encourages sharing while allowing athletes to choose the facts (and falsehoods) that they disclose about themselves, depending on their own comfort levels.

Emergency Action Plans: The Basics

The purpose of an EAP is to help coaches identify, mitigate and manage the risk concerns of each practice venue. Assessing each venue with a systematic risk management lens can be eye-opening. Completing a thorough EAP may even lead you to reconsider routes or change how you use your trail systems.

Meet the Coach: Heather Weirich

“NICA is a community that cheers each other on. No matter where you come from, no matter what team jersey you wear, people will cheer for you! It’s a community that believes in one another. Whether a student-athlete sets their heart at racing or their soul prefers discovering new trails and adventuring, there’s a place for all.”

People Bingo

A game to get to know each other: use People Bingo to learn something new about your riders and fellow coaches!