Games increase fun, joy, and skill development. Allowing our athletes to play supports connection to their teammates and the sport of mountain biking. Coaches work in a dynamic environment, and your games will often need to be revised or adapted. Making a change doesn’t mean that you did something wrong, or that it was a bad game. It is essential to adapt activities to ensure that athletes are having fun and experiencing the right level of challenge.
This classic game with endless creative progressions can help athletes learn balance, coordination, ratcheting, and ultimately, track stands. How does your team play foot down?
On and off the bikes games are great! Especially if you play the right game at the right time. The athletes will be engaged, they will have fun, and they will learn something. If we play a game before our athletes have the social and MTB skills necessary to play the game, the game can be frustrating, no fun, and potentially dangerous. Great coaches and teams understand when to play games and how to adapt them to the athletes in front of them.
This familiar playground game gets a twist when you add bikes and balance!
Welcome to our 3-part Coaching with Games series! We’ll highlight skills, methods, and best practices for using games with your teams.
As NICA coaches, we know that fun is an essential part of learning and whole-athlete development. Here’s how you can become a pro at COACHING WITH GAMES!
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…
Create some excitement around skills late in your season once trail riding has gotten a little stale. Get creative and customize your skill and activity options!
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.
Combine bike skills, tag, and rock paper scissors in one amazingly intergalactic game.
A game to get to know each other: use People Bingo to learn something new about your riders and fellow coaches!