SCSA creates a platform to take riders from a grassroots level and nurture them into the future generation of top competitive riders. Here’s the latest from President Annelize Ziehl-Owens:
- By Bike Network
We’ve come a long way since the start of this pandemic and we cannot think of a better time than now to create hope and re-nurture the love for cycling. Sport unites people and cycling gives a sense of freedom and fun. Nothing would give us greater pleasure than to see even more riders take up cycling as their official school sport.
Professional riders Candice Lill, Mariske Strauss and Sarah Hill kicked things off earlier this month with virtual training sessions, a Girls Time Trial and a Zwift fun race series. SCSA events Co-ordinator, Paola Damilano and her team are working extremely hard to create these and more opportunities for our learners. We would like to thank our sponsors Garmin, Tacx and Anatomic for our great prizes. Our first webinar will take place on the 16th of September 2020 with guest speakers and is also not to be missed, so save the date. We are also excited to announce that Tiffany Keep and Henry Liebenberg have been elected as our National Schools Cycling Ambassadors. Both Tiffany and Henry were part of the Spur Schools Mountain Bike League throughout their High School careers from Grade 8 to Matric. We are looking forward to their valuable contributions in future to inspire even more children across the country. They are true role models and we are proud to be associated with them.” – Annelize Ziehl-Owens – President Schools Cycling South Africa
“I have seen these two riders develop from Sub-Junior age into the exceptional athletes they are today. Both athletes have shown commitment, dedication, drive and grit throughout, but most of all it is their passion for cycling that will inspire younger riders.” – Merita van Wyk – Vice President Schools Cycling South Africa.
“My cycling journey began back when I was only three years old, but my very first race was actually an inter-school’s series mountain bike race at my local bike park at the age of 6. Once I’d reached the age of 10 I began to compete more regularly and the KZN Schools Mountain Bike Series was the very first series which I completed; who would have thought that it would take me on an incredible journey where I would get the opportunity to race my bike all over the world and meet some amazing people along the way. Schools Cycling has grown in leaps and bounds since then, and it is quite remarkable to see how many kids are now partaking in the Spur Schools MTB League, and equivalent races. It is the perfect platform to grow kids from grassroots level and nurture them into the future generation of top competitive South African cyclists. I only have good memories of my Schools Cycling experience, and I owe a lot of what I’ve learnt about the sport to my experiences from this platform. “ – Tiffany Keep
“Competing in the Schools series as a young kid was pretty much where my love for cycling as a sport started as well as cross country. I was first introduced to cross country at the age of 14 at my first High school Spur race riding for Menlo Park high school and the rest is history. I fell in love with the format of cross country racing and the schools series was the perfect gateway into the discipline of cross country racing. I was fortunate enough to compete at the schools national series for my entire high school career and managed to take a few titles along the way. The schools series provided a great foundation for my XCO racing career with courses that were fun to race hard and competitively on, but not too technical for the rider that wanted to give XCO a try for the first time. It was because of the schools series that I later decided to race XCO provincially, nationally and then later internationally as a Junior. My hope is to inspire the younger generation just as I was inspired when I was a young kid. Help with some insight to racing, be a guide for the younger generation that want to get into racing XCO and hopefully proved a few tips and tricks where I can.” – Henry Liebenberg.
“We would like to encourage all the School riders out there that have a spirit for adventure and a mountain bike to come and join in our fun activities” – Linky Cilliers, Secretary of Schools Cycling South Africa.
If any Corporate Companies would like to get involved with Schools Cycling please contact Annelize Ziehl-Owens at president@schoolscyclingsa.co.za