BERKELEY, Calif. (BRAIN) — The National Interscholastic Cycling Association honored 16 and organizations in 11 categories at its 2014 NICA Awards ceremony held Saturday at Clif Bar’s headquarters in the Bay Area.
Honorees included student-athletes, coaches, volunteers, partners and sponsors who helped advance interscholastic mountain biking during the past year. Robin Farina, founder of the Women’s Cycling Association, served as master of ceremonies.
“As NICA grows, so does the pool of talent in our organization. I truly am surrounded by greatness, and it is humbling to hear of how much effort and energy our members across the country are expending to build not only the interscholastic cycling movement, but also cycling itself,” said Austin McInerny, NICA’s executive director. “Though the bike industry is experiencing relatively flat sales, we show a steady increase in participation across teams, coaches and student-athletes. When you look at the positive effects of all our work on the people and the communities in which we all live, it is easy to understand why our results are so positive.”
NICA is on track to have 15,000 student-athletes across the nation by 2022, McInerny added.
QBP founder Steve Flagg, the recipient of the 2014 NICA Legacy Award, said: “In every organization I meet with regarding cycling advocacy, the question turns to how are we going to get more youth into biking? Well, NICA is the answer, and my only surprise is that the bike industry so far isn’t fully 100 percent engaged behind NICA, but you better believe they will be in the next year or two as they recognize the power of NICA.”
The complete list of winners:
- Clif Bar and Company Volunteer Service Award: Dee Seymour, SoCal High School Cycling League; John Tillson, Tennessee High School Cycling League
- CamelBak Distinguished Alumni Award: Matthew Zalusky, Minnetonka High School, Minnesota High School Cycling League
- Primal Cycling Apparel Race Production Partner Award: Chris Wentz, director, event medical specialists, Colorado High School Cycling League
- Quality Bicycle Products Community Impact Award: Richard “Dick” Schindler, Minnesota High School Cycling League
- Specialized Student-Athlete Leadership Award: Rita Gutierrez, Eagle County, Colorado High School Cycling League; Trevor von Boeck, Highlander Racing Composite, Colorado High School Cycling League
- International Mountain Bike Association Teen Trail Corps Award: Cam Eng, Thunder Ridge, Colorado High School Cycling League
- Easton Foundations League Founders Award: Dan Brooks, Georgia High School Cycling League
- SRAM Coach of the Year Award: Heather Williams, Ogden High School Mountain Bike Team, Utah High School Mountain Bike League; Morgan Fletcher, Oakland Composite, NorCal High School Cycling League
- Trek All-Star Student-Athlete Award: Carson Beckett, Marshall County High School, Tennessee High School Cycling League; Jordan Horner, Burnsville High School, Minnesota High School Cycling League
- NICA Legacy Award: Steve Flagg, founder and owner, Quality Bicycle Products
- GU Energy Extraordinary Courage Award: Sienna Leger Redel, Park City High School, Utah High School Cycling League; KC Fontes, Salinas High School, NorCal High School Cycling League
