<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE PRESIDENT OF CYCLING SOUTH AFRICA 08 JUNE 2007 At the April Congress of Cycling South Africa ("CSA"), a meeting attended by all Affiliates of CSA as the controlling body of the sport of cycling in South Africa, it was unanimously resolved that all cyclists taking part in cycling events in the country, be they races or what is commonly known as fun rides or recreational events, should be licensed to CSA and furthermore the events themselves will also require official sanction from CSA. There may of course be some minor events which are of such a nature that they should be exempt from this ruling but this aspect will be looked at on a case-by-case basis as exceptions to the rule. The licenses concerned are an Elite license for Elite cyclists taking part in Elite events, such as International, National and Provincial and inter-Provincial events and National Classics; a Cyclo-sport licence which will be required for all other events and a single event Cyclo-sport licence which replaces the former "temporary one day license". Whether or not Club membership will also be compulsory is under discussion but this may end up being for each Province to make for its own cycling community. Congress also resolved that in order to give effect to this resolution, CSA should put in place IT requirements urgently to enable all cyclists to obtain licences on-line either when entering for an event or independently. We estimate that this process will take another approximately 6 weeks to 2 months after which roll-out of the new ruling will take place country-wide. In the meanwhile certain Provinces and events around the country are already collaborating in order to licence as many cyclists as possible without delay. We stress that these steps are taken in the interests of cycling and cyclists themselves. The costs of licensing is still to be determined after consultation but we want to licence cyclists on a value-add basis so that, for example, they may be issued with a credit card which entitles them to discounts on certain purchases or services. Cycling in this country only has a long-term future provided that it is well organised and funded and licensing cyclists is a pre-requisite. Athletics and runners find themselves in a similar situation. We need to fast-track certain projects, not the least transformation but without funding we cannot hope to achieve our objectives. 1Other benefits for cyclists will be a National on-line entry system, hopefully, as well as a National ranking and National seeding systems which will do away with the need for cyclists to pre-qualify for major events by being obliged to take part in specified other events. The long-term benefits for cyclists and their sport are going to out-weigh the inconvenience of having to purchase an annual licence. When we consider how much cyclists spend on their bikes, kit, entries and traveling, it is only fair that a contribution be made to CSA as the controlling body charged with developing the infrastructure of the sport; developing elite riders, funding overseas teams and the like. It is wonderful, for example, to see that Barloworld will have a team in the Tour de France but this would not have been possible had cycling not existed in this country on an organized basis, in the first place. The more funding CSA has, the better job it will do! LAWRENCE WHITTAKER PRESIDENT CYCLING SOUTH AFRICA www.cyclingsa.com
