The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) have partnered to create the Teen Trail Corps, a new initiative launched at this year’s Sea Otter Classic.
Teen Trail Corps is an expansion of IMBA and NICA’s Spirit of Howdy campaign, an initiative begun in 2010 with the goal of teaching teens to be friendly and respectful toward people they meet on the trail.
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In 2014, four NICA league high school students were chosen to attend the IMBA World Summit. There they met with IMBA Advocacy Manager Aimee Ross and NICA Executive Director Austin McInerny to design the Teen Trail Corps.
“Turns out our ideas weren't far off of what the kids really wanted,” says Ross. “They love the idea of being guided and taught about advocacy efforts based on their passion for mountain biking.” The Corps builds upon the Spirit of Howdy’s emphasis on respect to include compassion for trail users and trails, and empathy for people who don’t bike.
The program will use online badges to encourage participation in TTC. Students earn badges by tracking their trail advocacy actions online, where their coach approves each entry and awards credit toward a respective badge.
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Once a student-athlete earns all four badges—speak, build, respect, ride—he or she will become a trail captain. Trail captains will have the opportunity to attend future IMBA World Summits and other events.
Teen Trail Corps is still in the blueprinting phase, but it has already attracted attention from students, coaches, and industry partners.
“As long as there are public lands there will always be the need for our community of mountain bikers to advocate for their access to those lands,” says Ross. “With the 27 years of IMBA's existence we have learned a lot, and it's time that we look to the younger community to help build a much broader base of what conservation efforts will look like in the next 20-30 years.”
