So after months of work and planning, we are excited to
announce that our new academy will be kicking off next year from the 1st of
January 2013!
We are very excited to say that we have partnered with ASG,
who will be our title and major product sponsor for next year, and hopefully
for years to come.
Our vision for the academy stems from the fact that there
are very few professional mtb outfits locally, and that we wanted to bridge the
gap between good amateur riders and the top level riders in the sport. We found
that during the last couple of years, we have helped and coached several good
cyclists, but noticed that even with them obtaining fantastic results, there
was little assistance for them to progress in the sport, and therefore they
became despondent.
So we decided to group our efforts and try to match up all
the puzzle pieces to make what has now become the ASG MTB Cycling Academy.
The academy has a few different tiers; with its main focus
being to coach and mentor cyclists, and help them reach their dreams. Along the
way they will often need support, not only at race events, but also in the form
of bike maintenance, enabling them to get to and perform in the events they
would like to. With this in mind, we have partnered with several fantastic
companies, which will be able to offer that support throughout the season.
The pinnacle of this is a sharp upper tier in the academy,
including cyclists over a very broad age spectrum, all with their own goals and
incentives, giving the academy team fantastic diversity.
Some of the riders we have worked with and will be working
with next season include:
Arno DuToit(U23): Overall S.A. XCO u23 Cup Winner. 3rd SA
XCO champs and overall senior men MTN Marathon series
Joel Hieber(YM): Winner Spur schools series youth, past 2
years
Amy McDougall(EW): 2nd Nissan Trail Seeker series Elite
Women, SS women’s World Champ
Nicholas Popich(JM): Nissan half marathon overall series
winner, USN half marathon series winner
Catherine Colyn(YW): 3rd Junior ladies XCO championships.
3rd women MTN half marathon series
Neville Ackerman(MM): SA masters TT champ, 3rd masters
Worlds TT champs, 3rd SA XCM champs
Angie DeBoer(EW): 3rd Elite woman overall Nissan Trailseeker
series, 3rd 3Towers
Edwil O’Neal(U23): 5th Overall half marathon series, 2nd XCO
Provincials
Marcel Marais(U23): 10th Spur School series, 9th National
series
Jacques Pretorius(YM): Overall winner youth Nissan Trailseeker
half marathon series
Petru Ebersohn: 3rd Elite Women 3Towers
These are some of the riders we will be supporting next year
and are very excited about what the future holds for them as well as many
others.
But why we are really excited about the academy is that it
doesn’t end there. We are offering a few tiers of support, depending on what
the athlete’s schedule looks like and how much they can commit to cycling. This
is a great way to inspire cyclists at all levels, and help them achieve their
goals, no matter what they are. It is also a way for us to “talent-search” and
hopefully discover and encourage new talent.
A HUGE thank you to our partners in this project, and we
look forward to working with them far into the future! They include:
ASG: Title sponsor
Continental: Tyres
Ritchey: Accessories and wheel sets
San Marco: Saddles
High 5: Nutrition
Cycleops: GPS and power meters
Squirt: Chain wax and bike wash
Crank Bros: Pedals
Bat Seal: Tyre sealant
Magura: Brakes and suspension
Photizo: LED Light therapy
Dimension Sport: Massage therapy
Scicon: Bike bags and accessories
Epic Sports: Bike and tech support
IMC Reaction: Alarms, monitoring and reaction
Sixs: Under-garments
Zefal: Pumps and accessories
So as you can see, we have been busy and are really excited
for 2013!! We have already started with our base training, as well as skill
sessions building up to next year. Our first away Academy training camp will be
held in Oudtshoorn from the end of December to the beginning of January.
Should you have any enquiries or would like to get involved
with the club or the academy, then please feel free to contact Paul at: info@epicsports.co.za
or (012) 643 0504. Or should you be interested in joining, you can do so either
online www.epicsports.co.za, or at Epic Sports Cycling shop itself (012 643
0504). If you are interested in up-to-date news or following the academy’s
progress, then please follow us on twitter: @asg_pycycling, and we will try to
keep everyone up-to-date on the academy’s activities and achievements. We also
have our blog site up and running, where all the athletes contribute, giving
some interesting reading about all the academy’s activities. If you would like
some good race reports, stories and photos, then go to
www.pycycling.blogspot.com.
Regards
Paul and Yolande
