Skip to content

Meet the Tallahassee Thunder and coach Bree Van Oss

Head coach Bree Van Oss started his team, the Tallahassee Thunder, during the pandemic in 2020. He noticed that his local mountain biking scene lacked representation, so he jumped in feet first to bring the NICA mission and values to his community. And thus, a rad team was born!
Know another coach or team that should be highlighted? Share with us!

League: Florida

Team: Tallahassee Thunder

Coach Name: Bree Van Oss

Pronouns: He/Him

Roles: Founder, Head Coach, Team Director

When did your team start? How did it start?

During the spring of 2020 I, like many people, wondered how I could become part of the social movement born of that difficult time. As an avid cyclist, I was aware of the lack of representation in our local cycling community. I reached out to a member of the Tallahassee Mountain Biking Association (TMBA) board, to see if there was an effort underway that  I could join to help effect change. They suggested that I start a local NICA team and that in doing so, I would be able to engrain the values of inclusion and representation into this new team. After reading content on the NICA website, it became clear that the national association’s goals were really well aligned with my own vision. This gave me enough confidence to jump in with both feet and I haven’t looked back!

Tell us a little bit about your team!

Our team is special because of the way we support each other. This may not be unique for a NICA team, but it is certainly special. This is evident in the way the team brings in new riders and coaches and in the excitement around sharing kudos at the end of practice. Our team wants to be together, on the bike and on the trail. We’ve had many days when the team decided not to break into groups because they wanted to ride together. The faster riders are often willing to ride at a slower pace so that they can share the experience with all of their teammates. 

Our team culture is totally focused on having fun together. We go to great lengths to de-emphasise outcomes so that our team doesn’t feel like the podium is the point. We want everyone to feel that they are an integral part of the team, so we celebrate the riders and coaches who have attended the most practices. We encourage kudos for acts of kindness and selflessness and we call those behaviors “leadership”. We look for opportunities to call in riders and coaches who have gone above and beyond to embody this team spirit!

Does your team have a favorite NICA game, activity, or tradition?

Our team’s all time favorite game, by far, is cardboard skid relay. We’ve done this game since the very first season and they never get tired of it. Last season we added an endurance component to the game by doing it on an incline and increasing the distance. We called it the “mountain goat skid relay”.

One of our team’s favorite traditions is our Pump Track Pizza Party after the pre-ride on our home race weekend. We invite other teams to join us at the local pump track and it’s become something that they look forward to when they travel to the Tallahassee race.

What’s your favorite team moment from a recent season?

At an early race last season, several of the riders made impromptu skits extolling the virtues of Chargel. It was quite funny to watch them come up with positive things to say on the spot. They were so disappointed when Chargel didn’t engage after we posted a montage to Instagram and mentioned Chargel.

At one race last season, the high school boys race was canceled due to lightning in the area, but it never really rained on the course. While the riders were certainly disappointed, I was super impressed by the maturity they showed in responding to this unfortunate situation. They made the best of the extra downtime that they had together and presented a positive example to their younger teammates by the way they responded to the adverse conditions that were out of their control.

Our team culture is totally focused on having fun together. We go to great lengths to de-emphasise outcomes so that our team doesn’t feel like the podium is the point… We encourage kudos for acts of kindness and selflessness and we call those behaviors “leadership”. We look for opportunities to call in riders and coaches who have gone above and beyond to embody this team spirit!
Bree Van Oss, Head Coach

What’s your best pro-tip for leaders of other NICA teams?

Start with YES and figure out how to make it work. We encourage our riders to take an active role in our practice planning. The ride-lead coaches are reminded to ask the riders where they want to go. Sometimes they need a few suggestions, other times they have pretty specific ideas. We try to say “YES” first, then work with the group to iron out the details. If the destination they request is too far away on the given day, we say “Yes, great idea, but we don’t have quite enough time to get there and back. How about we go most of the way and turn around here?” Starting with yes empowers the student-athletes to participate in decision making.

When student-athletes graduate from your team, what’s one thing you’ve hoped they will carry with them?

When a student athlete graduates from our team I hope that they carry with them a love for adventure and exploration. I hope they continue to wonder what’s around the next corner and who they can share that experience with. The main lesson I hope a student-athlete learns from their time on our team is that with enough grit and determination, they can accomplish anything and that the most challenging obstacles are the best opportunities for growth.

Anything that you want to share that our questions didn’t cover?

My experience as a NICA head coach for the last four, going on five seasons, has taught me that young people are the happiest when they are involved in decision making. I’ve learned to provide two or more acceptable options and let them choose. I’ve also learned to say YES to alternative suggestions, which can be modified to fit within our time and safety constraints.

Thanks to Bree for sharing his story for our MEET THE TEAM feature!

If you’re a Florida coach and you see Bree around, be sure to say “hi” and connect.
To learn more about the Tallahassee Thunder, visit their website and follow their Instagram!

Throughout the year, we’ll interview an outstanding coach from our NICA community. Know a coach or team that should be highlighted? Share with us!