The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) has been around for 13 years. The goal is to improve the lives of teens and positively impact communities by providing a high-quality, safe and fun interscholastic mountain bike program based on the principles of strong body, strong mind, strong character, equity and inclusivity.
The Carbon High School Mountain Bike team will be coached by Mark Jespersen, marking his ninth year after starting the team. He will have help from his assistants Amy Jespersen, Dave Holzer, Austin Sherman, Paul Smith, Clay Taylor, Katie Carlson, Liz Sharp and Jenny Miller. Coach Jespersen explained his coaching style, “I try to balance the fun aspects of mountain bike riding with the necessary tools to be effective in racing. The end goal is to help the riders develop a love for riding.”
When asked about his teams returning members and “starters”, he responded, “the mountain bike team doesn’t really have starters, every kid races on their own terms in skill specific categories – no one sits on the bench. It’s an individual sport with a team concept; similar to the swim team or cross-country team. We have 35 returning team members and 20 new riders this year for a total of 55 riders. There are too many names to list them all, but we are excited to have so many back and are anxious to see how the kids stack up against the competition.”
When asked about what the team has been doing to improve during the offseason, Jespersen said, “Our riders work on endurance and technical skills. Many will ride 100+ miles per week as they prepare for the race season.”
Coach Jespersen then spoke about his five main values he teaches the athletes: fun, inclusivity, equity, respect and community.
When asked about the challenging opponents this season, he said within the region there will be several riders in each category, that will surely bring out the best in his team. The interview concluded by asking about his expectations of the team this year.
“I feel that we have several strong riders in each category and I’m hopeful that many will see the podium at the races and qualify for state competition,” Coach Jespersen stated.