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Riding at the Kansas League Leaders’ Summit this Fall
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Dear Team NICA –
Happy Holidays! While 2020 has been anything but normal, reflecting back on this year, several things stand out to me – the resilience, strength and energy of our community, and the joy, excitement and hope mountain biking brings to each and every one of us. Looking forward to 2021, we are already hard at work to ensure that NICA and your local NICA leagues can continue to safely bring mountain biking activities to your communities. We know it may still be some time before we can fully resume our activities across all our leagues, we are working with your local league to adapt and evolve programming so that we can continue to bring joy, excitement and hope to our student-athletes, coaches and all of you.
Our community is stronger than ever and continues to grow. Even with the limits of the pandemic in 2020, our student-athlete participation grew by 11% and our community of coaches grew more than 14%. NICA’s leagues and teams are needed now more than ever and often have been the only outlet for students and coaches alike to be outside and active. This season of giving, I ask that you consider a gift to NICA National or your local NICA League so that we can continue to change lives through cycling.
Thank you all for your continued support of NICA, your local NICA league and our mission to build strong minds, bodies, character and communities through cycling. On behalf of the entire NICA Staff, I would like to wish you all a warm and bright holiday season and a very happy New Year!
With Gratitude,
Steve
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What’s New Across America
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Happy Holidays from all of us at NICA
We wish you, your families, friends and cycling communities a warm and bright holiday season and a fantastic ride into 2021!
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NICA Award Nominations are OPEN!
Nominations for the 2020 NICA Awards are now OPEN! We are constantly inspired by the tremendous commitment of our student-athletes, dedicated coaches, and passionate volunteers that form our close-knit and dynamic community. The NICA Awards honor student-athletes, coaches, volunteers, alumni and partners who have made outstanding contributions to the interscholastic cycling movement. Nominations will be accepted now through January 12, 2021. Please click HERE to submit your nominations today!
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NICA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Update
Our goal at NICA is to ensure that we are a culturally relevant, diverse and inclusive organization, free of barriers where everyone is equally valued. Earlier this fall we surveyed our league directors nationwide to identify current activities in our leagues specific to the recruitment of BIPOC student-athletes and coaches.
Many of our leagues are already very involved in equity work at the grassroots level. However, we are doing an internal audit and analysis to improve how we work to uphold our values of inclusivity, equity and respect. We are thrilled to once again be working with inclusion and bias expert, Risha Grant and also have recruited outdoor industry expert, Nate Smith III to develop a comprehensive organizational NICA DEI strategy.
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Risha Grant, Inclusion and Bias Expert
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Nate Smith III, Outdoor Industry Expert
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Safety Tip of the Month: CDC’s Updated Mask Guidance
As some of our teams and leagues have been able to participate in NICA activities recently, you’ve probably seen a lot of mask wearing to reduce the potential of exposure to COVID-19.
To improve the effectiveness of mask wearing in the NICA Community, we have three Safety Tips from the Center for Disease Control: How to Wear a Mask (December Update):
1. A mask is NOT a substitute for social distancing. Masks should still be worn in addition to staying at least 6 feet apart.
2. Masks and gaiters with 2 or more layers are more effective.
3. To reduce fogging if wearing riding glasses or any glasses at all, masks with nose pieces or tighter-fitting nose areas can help.
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A mask is NOT a substitute for social distancing. Masks should still be worn in addition to staying at least 6 feet apart. |
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Masks and gaiters with 2 or more layers are more effective. |
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To reduce fogging if wearing riding glasses or any glasses at all, masks with nose pieces or tighter-fitting nose areas can help. |
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To learn more about the NICA Coach License Program please visit our website HERE where can find more information about the requirements and resources needed to become a NICA coach. The NICA GRiT Initiative is looking not only to increase our female-identifying athlete participation, we are also aiming for 33% female-identifying coach participation by 2023. Connect with your local coaches, ride with teams in your area, and find out how you can support the movement to get #moregirlsonbikes. Not to mention, the benefits that come along with being a NICA coach are pretty spoke-tacular!
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Share the Ride and Change Lives with NICA this holiday season! Join us for our annual end of the year campaign, as we celebrate all that makes NICA awesome and brings joy to our community. Make a tax-deductible donation today to NICA National or your favorite local NICA League HERE.
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NICA Partners Raise over $20,000 to Share the Ride and get #morekidsonbikes!
Worldwide Cyclery
This year on Black Friday, Worldwide Cyclery hosted a promotion to raise awareness and money for NICA. They discounted gift cards and raised product prices by $5 for a total donation of $13,705 to NICA! Worldwide Cyclery is a new NICA partner – hear a little more from them and why they’re stoked on NICA HERE.
GIRO
Giro is proud of everything NICA has done to support mountain biking, leadership, and health for young riders, and as a way of saying thank you sponsored a promotion on Thanksgiving day to give 10% of online sales that day to NICA! Through this, they raised more than $2,300 to get more kids on bikes!
Be Good Foundation
On December 16th Rebecca Rusch’s Be Good Foundation held a matching gifts day, where they matched $1500 in donations to NICA and $500 in donations to Rebecca’s home state league of Idaho.
THANK YOU to our partners for going above and beyond to help us get #morekidsonbikes!
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Bringing JOY and Changing Lives
NICA programs bring JOY and change lives across our nationwide mountain biking community. This holiday season as we invite you to Share the Ride, Change a Life, take a moment to hear from our coaches and student-athletes HERE how NICA programs have changed their lives and brought them joy.
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Let’s #GoByBike
This year, more people than ever have experienced the transformative power of riding a bike. That’s why, in 2021, Trek Bikes is choosing to embrace optimism. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned this year, it’s that the power to create change lies in each of us. Here’s to 2021!
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CLIF Bar Friends & Family!
You’re invited to CLIF Bar’s Friends & Family sale with 20% off site-wide now through 12/31! Shop your favorites or try their seasonal flavors including Spiced Pumpkin Pie, Iced Gingerbread and Peppermint Bark. Through CLIF’s ongoing partnership with American Forests, every seasonal bar purchase you make helps get them closer to the goal of planting one million trees by 2025! Promo code CBCFF2020. Shop now HERE!
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NICA Jacket + Gaiter from Borah Teamwear
For a limited time our partners over at Borah Teamwear have crafted the perfect jacket for spring or fall race days. Wear the NICA colors in style and comfort with this special edition lightweight jacket. Order the jacket and you’ll also get a free matching NICA neck gaiter.
All jackets are made-to-order in Borah’s solar powered facility in the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Best yet, 10% of your purchase goes back to support NICA!
Order your NICA Jacket HERE!
*The NICA/Borah pop-up shop closes on December 31, and will start producing these jackets on January 1st. Borah will notify you when your gear is ready to ship. And while we know this is after the holiday season, if you order a jacket or hoodie now, we will send you a NICA gaiter and card that can serve as a gift announcement.
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Introducing Boon from our friends GU Energy Labs
Meet Boon – wholesome, yummy Almond Butters and Stroopwafels in a variety of flavors – your après ride, before ride and anytime snacks just got a whole lot more fun! Now through 12/31/20 buy a jar of Boon Almond Butter and get a box of Stroopwafels for FREE! Visit www.eatboon.com, add a jar of Almond Butter to your cart, add a box of Stroopwafels (excluding the mixed box) and insert code NICABoon at checkout for a savings of $17.50! One use per customer, offer expires 12/31/20.
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NICA exists by virtue of our generous sponsors, boosters, foundation partners and individual donors.
We are extremely grateful for your continued support of our mission to build strong minds, bodies, character and communities through cycling. Consider supporting NICA or your favorite league today and help us impact the future of cycling!
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