Join Us
Mountain biking is a family-friendly fitness activity that can be done for a lifetime, with great social qualities.
Enthusiasm for cycling as a sport and healthy lifestyle is at an all-time high, especially here in Arizona with so many incredible places to ride.
Training and racing with a team provides life lessons in self-discipline, teamwork, leadership and sportsmanship, along with fitness and camaraderie. Many sports tend to favor certain body types and require try outs. Cycling is different:
[ why Mountain Biking ]
[ more info ]Forget what you’ve seen on TV with the X-Games or soft drink commercials. In cross-country bike races, the average speed is usually around ten to twelve miles per hour. This is an endurance sport where fitness and skill are more important than bravery or risk taking. NICA collects data on injuries from every team. We specifically train our student athletes to mitigate injury. Statistically, we suffer fewer serious injuries than the majority of other mainstream sports, especially contact sports.
We do our best to minimize the risks to your athlete. Risky behaviors are discouraged or forbidden, the NICA helmet rule is strictly enforced and we teach each athlete bike-control skills early in the season to minimize the risk of crashing. After all, if you crash you not only risk injury but you also miss out on the fun riding and racing with your friends. Even with our best efforts, crashes and injuries can occur. Coaches are well trained in Concussion Assessment, CPR, AED, and all level 2 and 3 Coaches have Wilderness First Aid Training. Coaches carry first aid kits and athlete medical information during practices and races. We mandate that all Coaches and Ride Leaders carry mobile phones and student athletes are encouraged to do the same. NICA regulated ratios are 1:6 or 2:8 (coaches : student-athletes). Athletes never ride alone.
Are Mountain Bikes Dangerous?
Bike Racing is Girl-Friendly
There are lots of girls racing in the Arizona League. In fact, female participation is the fastest growing demographic and we are building our team culture to be truly co-ed. We work hard to provide an experience that encourages and celebrates girls’ needs and tastes while offering challenges that will test anyone’s body, mind and character. The Arizona League works hard to ensure that girls have the opportunity to shred some dirt and practice the developmental skills that challenging sports like cycling have to offer.
We don’t have tryouts. Anyone who wants to ride and is willing to put in the time and effort is welcome on our team. We look forward to turning inexperienced beginners into capable and confident riders.
How We Build Our Team
Practice and Training
Our training scheme is a carefully planned schedule of rides that gradually increase in distance and difficulty over a four month timeframe. This timeframe is long enough to insure that an athlete progresses at a rate gradual enough to avoid injury with the goal of achieving peak fitness by season’s end. The concept of a “periodization” based training scheme requires a combination of hard efforts and rest periods. Each are vital to a successful training program and they cannot be artificially compressed into a shorter timeframe without diminishing effectiveness. It’s important that your athlete avoids the temptation to do extra workouts beyond what is recommended. Athletes who train too little, intermittently or too often run a higher risk of injury, fatigue and mental burnout.
Nutrition
Our training scheme is a carefully planned schedule of rides that gradually increase in distance and difficulty over a four month timeframe. This timeframe is long enough to insure that an athlete progresses at a rate gradual enough to avoid injury with the goal of achieving peak fitness by season’s end. The concept of a “periodization” based training scheme requires a combination of hard efforts and rest periods. Each are vital to a successful training program and they cannot be artificially compressed into a shorter timeframe without diminishing effectiveness. It’s important that your athlete avoids the temptation to do extra workouts beyond what is recommended. Athletes who train too little, intermittently or too often run a higher risk of injury, fatigue and mental burnout.
Training for bike adventure riding and racing is hard work. Fortunately, it’s also a lot of fun and the team sometimes ends rides with social time. Across the nation, athletes’ parents report that they have begun riding as a result of their kids’ participation in a cycling. Please join us and ride with the team. This is a very friendly and inclusive sport.
Parents and Others Ride Along
You can tap into our communication stream many different ways, but our website and our private Team Snap app are the most informative. You are here at Tucsonmtb.org.
Team Communication
About Commitment
There is no requirement to attend all practices, but it is strongly encouraged. The skills and fitness needed to be safe and have fun on off-road trails requires regular practice. If your athlete regularly misses workouts, especially the Saturday rides; he/she will not progress at the same rate as fellow athletes. I guarantee that this will become a source of frustration for your student once they start having difficulty keeping up with basic rides. For safety reasons, your student athlete must ride enough practices and show basic skills before competing in races. Please contact a Coach or another team parent if your student athlete needs a ride to practice or a race. You can best communicate this through Team Snap chat.
We promise to treat your student athlete like a responsible young adult. If your student athlete is unable to attend the agreed-upon practice rides because of school work, job schedules, family commitments or other concerns, it is important that they consult with the coaches to create an alternate plan to keep their season on track.
Tucson Composite is a cycling adventure and competition team and, as such, each participant is encouraged to try at least one race. The AZ League offers “party” rides on the race course and adventure rides. If, after this experience, the rider determines that he/she is not into racing, then they can choose to not participate in future races. However, racing makes all of the riding and training worth the effort. Everyone is nervous at the starting line, but it is an amazing, life changing experience to test one’s body after a season of practices and riding. This is where one moves beyond what he/she thinks they are capable of and learns something new and powerful about themselves. Students who join the team should be open to experience at least one race. One is usually enough to get them hooked!
Code of Conduct
We are committed to safety and require each rider to ride in a safe and controlled manner. Riders who repeatedly flaunt our safety rules or engage in behaviors that present unnecessary risk to themselves or others will be dropped from the program. As visible representatives of Emmett High School and ambassadors of cycling, athletes are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with that status and follow the NICA and TCMTB rules of behavior at all times. During the registration process, athletes will sign NICA’s Code of Conduct. Please review the Athlete Code of Conduct.
About Academics
The mission of the Tucson Composite Team is to provide high school students with the opportunity to strengthen their minds, bodies and character through the sport of cycling. We want to help develop our students academically, physically and socially into mature young adults. To qualify to participate with Tucson Composite, each student athlete must be achieving academically in a manner satisfactory to the wishes of his/her parents and the standards of the school. Failure to maintain satisfactory academics during the cycling season is grounds to be dropped from the team.
You’ll Need Some Equipment
Your athlete will need an appropriate bike, cycling clothing and other items. Please consult with a Coach before you buy anything so we can help you get the right gear and minimize the cost. Bicycles and helmets must be inspected and approved for function and safety, then re-inspected at regular intervals, including each practice. Getting all the equipment can be challenging. Prices vary widely and much is available both new and used on the internet at discount prices. NICA has worked hard to secure significant price discounts with many retailers across the country, specifically for NICA athletes and coaches. Let us help you find what you need.
Cost of Participating
The costs are broken into two payments. The club dues are calculated each season. The team fee covers the licensing for coaches, team equipment, digital subscriptions, Team Registration, and most other costs associated with the team. NICA, which is our governing body, provides insurance to clubs, coaches and athletes for all events and practices. This is paid through registration on NICA PitZone.
The second payment, the race dues, can be paid in January or individually on the Friday before each race in person at the AZ League registration tent in the race Pit Zone next to your team tent. Athlete registration fees for the races include a race plate that you keep and use for the entire season. Each athlete will determine what races that they will participate in. We encourage our team members to do all 4 races, but it is not required. We strongly encourage all racers to do at least one race or a Party Lap. The team will do fundraising to offset many of the team costs and build a scholarship fund for those who demonstrate need. It is our goal that no student will be denied participation due to a lack of resources.
Required Forms
To participate on the team, riders must complete NICA’s online PitZone Registration process and electronically sign all of the required documents. Any Coach or Student Athlete must be fully registered before they can participate in any team activities. We do allow a “try it out” practice with the team before you commit to the season.
Assistant Coaches, Ride Leaders, Non Riding Volunteers
For our student athletes to be successful we need lots of help from team parents and non riding volunteers. Coaches and Ride Leaders ride with the team regularly and non riding volunteers assist with business related activities and some act in the capacity of helper-coaches.
We are always looking for parents who would like to be trained as Assistant Coaches and Ride Leaders. You do not have to be a talented rider or racer to function effectively in this role. You learn as you go with the team and through support of NICA and the Arizona League. Tucson Composite also provides coaches skills practices to give parents the skills they need to become coaches. It’s rewarding and a lot of fun!