About
DHL Sprint School is a youth track cycling initiative run in conjunction with top British Cycling coaches which aims to support young riders from all over the country with developing their talent, by focusing specifically on their sprinting skills. Riders aged between 12 and 15 years old are nominated to attend by their regional coaches for showing enthusiasm and commitment to track cycling. By nurturing this crucial age group, DHL Sprint School aims to build a strong talent base to feed into British Cycling’s highly successful development programmes.
Here’s what some of the riders from DHL Sprint School 2011 think:
There are six Sprint School sessions per year, divided between the National Cycling Centre in Manchester and Newport Velodrome. The programmes for the schools are developed and delivered by top British Cycling team coaches and highly qualified coaching assistants.
The days have a sports academy feel, with riders divided into small groups according to their ability and experience. As well as on-track training and drills, the sessions also include a variety of off-bike workshops on important subjects such as nutrition, bike maintenance and racing etiquette. Riders will also take part in on-bike games which, as well as being lots of fun, are a brilliant way of improving bike handling skills, core strength and balance.
One of the truly unique aspects of the Sprint School is that it is supported by some of the world’s greatest sprint and track stars. At every event, participants get the opportunity to meet and learn from established stars like Jamie Staff and Craig MacLean, as well as young talent such as Becky James and David Daniell.
World Champion and Olympic medallist Craig MacLean wants to see more young cyclists going into sprinting rather than endurance events. “Sprinting is such a specific discipline, and therefore requires specialist coaching. I think it can sometimes get overlooked by young riders in favour of the endurance events, but hopefully this is changing thanks to the recent successes of the GB sprinters. It’s such a fun aspect of cycling and initiatives such as Sprint School can only help boost participation and youth talent in the sport as we head towards the Olympics in 2012.”
