Coaching Newsletter - March 2023

Spring is here, and athletes are toeing the line on a more regular basis. At a high level, an athlete’s pathway to competition is relatively straightforward:

• Prepare

• Register

• Take the start

Likewise, USA Cycling has refined the Athlete Development Pathway to better outline an athlete’s potential path to high-performance programs. Historically, the pathways for coaches to engage with the sport have not been as straightforward.

As mentioned last month, we’re slowly making changes to the Coaching Development and Education Program to increase its accessibility and offer more ways for coaches to engage with the sport. One of those changes will be separating the concepts of Education (lectures/online materials) and Development (practical application of education and working on the field of play). This will primarily be conceptual, to begin with, but take on more meaning as our coach developers receive training and become more involved moving forward in 2024.

The changes to the program should be live on the website in July. Anyone wanting a sneak peek can fill out this short form, and you’ll receive an email with further instructions to view the demo in late April or early May. We’re eager to hear feedback from you as we move to support coaches beyond the program’s traditional clinic engagements.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? E-mail coaches@usacycling.org.

We’re excited to have clinics outlined for 2023! Registration for the first level 2 clinic will be live as soon as final details are confirmed.

• July 3rd-5th Bear Creek Mtn Resort

• Level 2 Clinic only

• Held in conjunction with 2023 Cross-Country MTB National Championships

• 3-4 hours from many east coast cities

• Schedule to allow for traveling early on the 3rd and late on the 5th

• Registration coming soon!

• October 22-24, 2023 - Bentonville, AR

• Level 1 and Level 2

• Held following after Big Sugar

• Schedule to allow for traveling early on the 22nd and late on the 24th

• PREREQUISITE online courses will need to be completed prior to attending. These will be courses specially developed for USA Cycling by Fast Talk Labs. The courses will be available for purchase 2 months in advance of each clinic.

Tentative dates, locations and prerequisites will be available in a later newsletter and posted at the link below.

Need a new shirt or jacket for spring racing? Head on over to the USA Cycling Store for some new coach clothing! We've got new designs to help show your role at events, practices or just out and about. It's definitely worth checking out.

Looking to connect with other coaches? Need to bounce a coaching idea off someone else? Just want to talk shop with people who understand the trials and tribulations of being a cycling Coach? Join us for a pilot session in March. This will be a low-key engagement. We’ll take a few short minutes for program updates then the floor is open. If the group is large enough, we’ll break into smaller groups.

USA Cycling would like to help our coach employers engage with each other to talk about issues, ideas, and generally create some industry cohesion. If you've got the time, we've got the zoom meeting to join. We'll have intros and then let the conversation take over.

At this time, these sessions will be limited to companies that employ two or more coaches as part of their day-to-day business. In the next meet-up we will continue our previous conversation that concluded with the idea of "weeding the development garden".

Want to put all four sessions on your calendar? Download the calendar invite below!

Join TrainingPeaks in Louisville, Colorado on May 11th and 12th to learn how to use TrainingPeaks more effectively to save time and improve your coaching. USA Cycling coaches can get 20% off the registration price. Use code tpu4usac20 at check out to save 20%.

For a few more weeks, active USA Cycling Coaches can get access to all Fast Talk Labs training and coaching guides for half price. With new stories releasing every day, the Fast Talk Labs knowledge base includes training concepts, workouts each week, sports nutrition, data analysis, and more. Need help upgrading? Contact help@fasttalklabs.com.

You might have heard of polarized training, but do you know how to implement it? Check out this guide to help you get started.

Regional Development Camps with specific curriculum for junior development are underway! A number of dedicated USA Cycling coaches have worked hard to get these camps organized, and they need your help to ensure they are successful. Regardless of whether you work with juniors or not, you can help direct any athletes, parents, clubs, or other coaches to these camps as a great way to engage with other athletes, learn more about our sport, and gain exposure to USA Cycling’s Athlete Development Pathway.