SA MTB's High Performance Program - Rio 2016

[Konaman]

From Cycling SA'S website

"SASCOC has recently announced the Rio 2016 preparation program at a press conference held on 01 Feb 2011. Following the process of the National Cycling Federation submitting a list of possible athletes’ names for consideration, we are proud to announce that Candice Neethling and Philip Buys have been accepted onto SASCOC’s OPEX program. This will be implemented from 1 April 2011."

 

With all due respect.......

Candice should be part this program and i agree 500% with CyclingSA's. Regarding Philip Buys, i think we are missing the boat totally here. I have nothing against him and he is a great rider by SA standards. My concern is that we are talking of 2016. That's now how many years to go.........

 

Would it not have been a smart move to get one of the very promising second year juniors, or first year u23 riders like Candice, as part of this program, to have future world champions!

 

Burry already did exceptionally well as an u23 rider by world standards, and look where he is now.. It shows that you should be up there with the best in the world when you enter the Elite age category, to get anywhere in this very competitive sport.

 

Lets rather assist and guide a youngster with world beating potential, for 2016!

 

Am i missing the boat?

 

Any other opinions?

[WynieSteyn]

hahaha what about Wynand Steyn? upcoming rider first junior year this year. . .haha

[mtbvip]

From Cycling SA'S website

"SASCOC has recently announced the Rio 2016 preparation program at a press conference held on 01 Feb 2011. Following the process of the National Cycling Federation submitting a list of possible athletes’ names for consideration, we are proud to announce that Candice Neethling and Philip Buys have been accepted onto SASCOC’s OPEX program. This will be implemented from 1 April 2011."

 

With all due respect.......

Candice should be part this program and i agree 500% with CyclingSA's. Regarding Philip Buys, i think we are missing the boat totally here. I have nothing against him and he is a great rider by SA standards. My concern is that we are talking of 2016. That's now how many years to go.........

 

Would it not have been a smart move to get one of the very promising second year juniors, or first year u23 riders like Candice, as part of this program, to have future world champions!

 

Burry already did exceptionally well as an u23 rider by world standards, and look where he is now.. It shows that you should be up there with the best in the world when you enter the Elite age category, to get anywhere in this very competitive sport.

 

Lets rather assist and guide a youngster with world beating potential, for 2016!

 

Am i missing the boat?

 

Any other opinions?

 

I disagree. Most cyclists peak in their late 20's and early 30's. Your best chance at a champion for 2016 is to groom someone that is already a top elite - whether Buys or another (even older) elite. If we have a world class under 23 by all means pick him - at this point in time we don't....

[Konaman]

mtbvip -

I am not try to stir the pot, i am concerned about the future of XC mountain biking.

 

If i remember correctly we got a 10th and 11th place at the junior XC worldchamps in 2010.

At the previous XC Worldchamps at Pmb, we got a 3rd place.

 

There are very promising riders such as James Reid, Gert Heyns, Arno du Toit. Luke Roberts etc etc, that we need to assist/help/guide as much as possible, before they disappear from the cycling scene as many before them, due to lack of interest shown by Cycling SA in the past.

 

I believe that the future of mountain biking are in the hands of the youngsters out there!!

[b-rad]

Agree 100% Konaman. We need to nurture the young talent, of which a number of junior and U23 riders have the GENUINE potential to be worlds best!!

All these riders need is the exposure to more international racing, perhaps in the same way Burry was exposed to fending for himself in the States at just 18 yrs old...

The likes of James Reid and Luke Roberts (11th and 12th respectively at World Champs), Arno du Toit, Brendon Davids to name just a few should seriously be considered for the programme, if CSA is looking to make progress on the international scene, that is!!

[Total Trek]

Yes youre totally missing the boat.I agree with mtbvip. By 2016 Buys will have all the experience and top form. By that time a junior will only be where Philip is now.

[The_Break]

For SA to have World Class Riders we need World Class Coaches which we do not have. You would be shocked to hear how CSA have treated there national and olympic coaches. It is actually a disgrace that coaches are expected to do so much often for no pay and then on the odd trip get a flight and basic costs paid. No wonder we don't have what it takes on a world level.

 

There are a few basics that CSA will need to implement:

 

Better coaches - not just putting coaches through to level 2 on a few weekend courses without proper training, development and experience as we have seen this past year.

Better planning for national and international events - unlike the shambles we have seen the past months.

Better use of funds, especiallythe Lotto funds (which government may or may not pay depending on how they feel) whereby those that deserve it get to use it and not those that are simply lucky enough to have the right skin colour.

Better nurturing of juniors.

An improves system. The current seeding system is a failure and this will only become apparent once the statistics of this and next years races shows a decline in race numbers especially from an elite and slightly lower level. Currently those who are good who do not have a team or cannot find a team to travel to all the events must ride B. Who will waste money to travel to races such as OFM simply to ride B group?

 

I think a total re-look into the way the sport is run in SA is necessary. We do not need to re-invent the wheel when working models exists in countries such as Germaany, France, Spain, Australia, America, Italy, etc. We simply need to look for assistance.

[Konaman]

The Break - i agree with you 100%. Except for Burry -- who else of our senior elite riders can finish in the top 15-20 positions at cross country worlds races? Anybody? Is it good enough to finish in the 15 - 20th positions?

If our rugby our cricket players do not perform at important matches against overseas teams, we complain and moan and want them axed. Money has become such a scarce commodity that you have to use it where you get the best return on investment in the future.

 

This tells me that we have to change our mindsets about mountain biking. Perhaps we should rather start with the juniors etc , and try and build a team from scratch.

All the money CyclingSA has for mountain biking, should then be spend on this team for the next 5 years in order to become a force in the world, like the Swiss riders are currently.

 

What do i want to achieve with this topic? just to make the officials realize that we need to do things differently to reach our goals in the future. In the past they would select a team to go to worlds where most riders got lapped. I disagree with this policy to select riders, that have no chance of succeeding whatsoever.

 

Thats my 5c worth for tonight!!