The Go-Ride conferences 2014 have now officially kicked off! The first of six conferences was held on Saturday 8 March in Dartford, with 100 club volunteers attending the event. Over 25 per cent of the volunteers were young people, demonstrating the enthusiasm of the next generation.
This trend is set to continue with the rest of the conferences throughout March almost fully booked. On Sunday 9 March, the Go-Ride team visited Reading with over 100 enthusiastic Go-Ride club volunteers keen to share ideas and find out how they can develop their clubs further.
The all-new format of the 2014 conferences sees the introduction of a series of quick-fire updates, giving all the latest developments in the world of cycle sport, and a session on The Chimp Model, devised by sports psychiatrist, Dr Steve Peters.
This year’s coaching workshop focuses on Rider Development Sessions and helping bridge the gap between youth riders and senior riders, including new sessions for 14-25 year olds, and sessions for women and girls only.
John Haile from Penge Cycle Club, based in South East London, attended the coaching workshop and spoke to the Go-Ride team afterwards to tell us what he thought about it. John first started volunteering with Penge Cycle club because his children were members, so he was more than happy to get ‘roped in’ when the club asked if he would like to help out. Last year, John completed his Level 1 Award in Coaching Cycling, and he decided to attend the Go-Ride Conferences for the first time this March.
When asked about the Coaching Workshop, John said: “It was a very useful workshop and it was great to refresh the mind about things you need to continue doing as a club, and remind yourself about how important it is to look at the larger picture and the whole rider journey, from young novice rider to senior level.
“Our club started out five years ago specifically as a Go-Ride club for young riders, but now these young riders are turning into experienced youth and junior riders and we are aware how important it is to start developing this area of the club. This has already started and we will continue to work on this area over the next few years.”
Luke Anderson, British Cycling’s Regional Development Manager for the South East, attended both conferences at the weekend and said: “I spoke to some of the clubs at the end of the day and there was great feedback on the new format for this year’s conferences, with volunteers particularly enjoying the Chimp Model session, and learning more about other initiatives within the Go-Ride programme during the quick fire sessions, such as the wonderful progress being made by the new generation of young volunteers and the National Youth Forum.”
“It is important that we continue to find new, fresh and exciting ways of engaging with our Go-Ride volunteer workforce, to make sure we can provide them with the best opportunities and support to help them develop as a club in their community and inspire more young people to get involved in cycling.”
Next weekend, the Go-Ride conferences will take place in Leicester and Bridgewater. There are still a few places left for these events and we would love you to attend. For more information and to book your place on one of the remaining four conferences, please click here.
