Student-athletes in team captain positions have the opportunity to learn effective leadership while being positive role-models and cheerleaders for their teammates. Choosing team captains should be done based on character and leadership qualities.
What we as coaches say to our student-athletes matters and impacts their experiences. What parents say to their student-athletes can make an even bigger impact and can influence their love of the sport. John O’Sullivan, founder of the Changing the Game Project and best-selling author asserts that the best thing a parent can say to a student-athlete after competition is “I love watching you play (ride)”.
This month NICA partnered with The Feed to deliver an informative webinar about nutrition and riding and racing performance. The Feed’s Carson Beckett, a NICA alumni and nutritionist, gave a presentation and answered questions about hydration, nutrition, and being well-fueled for physical activity.
Event season is right around the corner for fall leagues. Many student-athletes are about to participate in their first race for the season, or maybe their first race ever! When kids are nervous about races, we can support them with thoughtful practice planning and empathetic support.
Join us for a foundational sports nutrition seminar, and learn how you can fuel to feel your best on every ride!
Master timing and coordination with this fun and challenging game! Perfect for building bike-body separation and cornering skills while having a blast.
It can be scary and intimidating to split a large and successful team. Splitting a growing team can be a really good thing! It means that you’ve created something so amazing that it needs to grow. NICA’s new Composite Team Expansion Playbook helps guide you through team growth and helps teams understand when and how to split their teams.
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?
March is brain injury awareness month, a great reminder for coaches to refresh their knowledge on concussion protocols and training. Check out these concussion-specific resources and tools to ensure you’re doing everything you can to keep athletes safe and healthy.
As NICA coaches, it’s part of our job to create welcoming and inclusive spaces on our teams, but it can be hard to try to explain every aspect of riding to someone who has never heard of mountain biking before. It can be an intimidating space to be a beginner, whether you’re a parent of a rider, a new athlete, or even a new coach. A half-day or two-hour “try-it-out” event is the perfect intro to MTB for many beginners!