Hello you amazing Wisconsin Coaches,
We are less than 2 weeks away from the start of the official 2021 Wisconsin season! Coaches across the league are gearing up for what looks to be a huge season for the Wisconsin league. As of today, we have over a thousand fully practice ready student-athletes prepared for day one, but only 326 coaches! It’s time to stop procrastinating coaches, the kids are ready to roll.

In the Issue:
-Don’t Miss out on the Mini Coach Retreat in Hayward/Seeley
-On-the-Bike Skills 101 and 201 Schedule for Spring and Early Summer
-Make Sure You are Fully Licensed on Day 1 of Practice
-NICA On-the-Bike Games Resource!

Come to Seelely, WI and ride the amazing CAMBA trails while learning about how to be a better coach for your student-athletes!

We will be offering On-the-bike Skills 101 and 201 clinics. In addition we will focus on practice planning, games, leading trail rides. The idea is to get coaches together to share their knowledge and expertise while leaving space for group rides, camp fires, and general networking.

The formal events will take place on Saturday, June 26th while informal group rides will be planned for Sunday, June 27th.

Schedule:
Saturday, June 26th
Meet at the Double O Trail Head at 8:30 am
Groups will split into OTB 101 and 201
Only 16 spots open for OTB 101 and 8 spots for OTB 201!
Bikes Games and Practice Planning
Group Ride

Lunch will be provided on Saturday

Sunday, June 27th
Group Ride any registered WI coach can attend but please register for the “Free Group Ride Ticket” – Time TBD

Bring snacks, sun screen, bug spray, layers, kick-butt attitude.

Camping Available at ROAM Adventure Basecamp: https://roambasecamp.com/
Grab a site and spend some extra time networking with other coaches around a camp fire.

All coaches seeking a Level 2 NICA license will need to complete On-the-Bike Skills 101. On-the-Bike Skills 201 is a way to take your coaching to the next level and spend more time on progress and teaching. If you haven’t taken OTB 101 for a couple of years it is probably time for a refresher before the season! Reach out to Mike McGarry for a discount code if you still have your OTB 101 field guide!

If there isn’t a course near you and you want to schedule one for your team or your area, please reach out to Mike McGarry at mike@wisconsinmtb.org

OTB101 (3 hours includes OTB field guide) is a requirement for Level 2 and 3 NICA Coaches and is a pre-requisite for OTB201 Certification. This is a 3 hour class that includes a Field Guide. Please note you will need to complete the 45 minute “OTB 101 Classroom” course in Litmos (Coach Profile) prior to taking this in-person training.

On-the-bike 201(5 hours bring the OTB field guide you received when you took OTB 101) is for NICA coaches looking to enhance their coaching skills and add to their coaching toolbox. NICA coach supporter, Josh Shively or Sydney Shimko will go over progressions for the OTB101 skills and add ratcheting, trackstands, small circles, switchbacks, rock dodge, and front and rear wheel lifts. We will also go through games and activities to do with your team and allow time for collaborating and sharing ideas with each other.

Just like student-athletes, Coaches must be fully registered to participate in practices. That means you are at least a Level 1 coach. Head coaches and team directors can audit their coaches by navigating to their team page in Pit Zone and looking for green check marks. Coaches with green check marks are fully licensed. Coaches with a red exclamation point, have started registration but are missing one or more items. You can hover over the red exclamation point to find out what they are missing. Coaches that are in gray with “(Not Registered)” next to their names, have been invited to register but have not started the process.

Take time this week and audit yourself and your team. Make sure you have enough coaches on day one and encourage them to take the On-the-bike Skill 101 and 201 clinics!

Melissa Davies, NICA Program Manager of Adventure, and Mike McGarry, Senior Coach Licensing Manager, have put together an On-the-Bike Games guide to help you all have more fun at practice. Use these games to build skills, have fun, and fully assess your student-athletes readiness for trail riding.