The dirt december

THE DIRT december 2014

The grands challenge national series preview nt, tas & vic state title recap NATIONAL SIGN ON DAY

THE DIRT You can be a part of THE

DIRT too!

If you have news, event reports, photos or anything else BMX related, send them to the Editor at news@bmxaustralia.com.au Cover: Racing at the Northern Territory State Titles

bmxaustralia.com.au

IN THIS ISSUE FROM THE TOP OF THE RAMP bmx australia agm GRANDS CHALLENGE BMXA NATIONAL PATHWAY 2015 national SERIES PREVIEW nt state titles recap tas state titles recap vic state titles recap 2014 grands recap

we want your stories Do you have a great BMX story that needs to be told? Maybe it’s about a hero, or long serving individual around the club?

It could be an inspiring story or a tale of exceptional achievement.

Whatever it is we love hearing from our BMX family, and more than that we like to share your stories with everyone else.

If you think someone’s story deserves to be heard get in touch with us at news@bmx.com.au and it could feature in future editions of ‘The Dirt’ so get writing!!

THE PRO'S CHOICE

ATHLETE | JYE HOMBSCH | DK BICYCLES FACTORY TEAM

From The Top Of The Ramp

Inside BMX Australia with president barry knight I would like to thank you for your contribution to the success of the sport of BMX in the past year.

It has been another progressive step in our sports evolution as we continue to develop the sport of BMX and our athletes, officials, coaches, clubs and administrators.

Among many highlights for BMX Australia has been the launch of the Development Academy, the growth in membership, our partnerships with the Australian Sports Commission and Subaru, our financial growth and our National Championships event in Shepparton; all of which the BMX family should be proud.

This, of course, is in addition to the exceptional performances on the bike we all enjoyed seeing in Shepparton at the National Championships and in Rotterdam at the World Championships.

I am also immensely proud of the progress the sport continues to make in attracting new members, and making use of digital and social media.

Once again, thank you for your continued passion, dedication and enthusiasm this year. On behalf of the Board at BMX Australia I hope you all have a safe and happy break and I will see you all again in 2015.

BMXA NATIONAL ATHLETE PATHWAY BMX Australia, in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Sport, have developed a National Athlete Pathway for the sport of Bicycle MotoCross (BMX). The pathway follows the same principles as recommended by the AIS and is comprised of four stages:

FOUNDATION (3 phases) TALENT (4 phases) ELITE (2 phases) MASTERY (1 phase) The Pre-Elite and Elite Stages of the pathway (T2 – M1) are based on the AIS Australian Winning Edge (AWE) strategy and includes AIS Athlete Categories from T4 (Developing and Emerging) through to M1 (Podium) that identifies Junior Elite and Elite athletes who have achieved outstanding results at World Championship events and monitors and supports their progress along their sport’s pathway. The BMX Australia Development Academy sits within the TALENT stages and underpins the BMXA HPU which encompasses the ELITE and MASTERY stages.

BMX AUSTRALIA NATIONAL ATHLETE PATHWAY

Pre-Elite athletes are provided with varying levels of support through respective State Teams and the BMX Australia Development Academy.

The Academy is defined as being comprised of three internal tiers (T2-T4) that support athletes to progress along the National Pathway. It is important to note that the pathway is designed for athletes to progress as they meet the criteria and/or at designated review periods. I.e an athlete may enter T2 when Academy selections are being undertaken, or an athlete may progress to T3 as soon as they meet the benchmarks.

national series preview The 2015 BMX Australia National series gets underway in Nerang next month, marking the start of what will be a bumper 2015 season. The series has been extended and will now be held over nine absorbing rounds on some of the best tracks in the country, and promises to be the best series to date.

An impressive number of entries, over 300, have been confirmed for round one and two of the series in Nerang on January 2 and 3, with the field to feature elite riders from the United States, Japan and New Zealand. The foreign raiders will join Australia’s world number one Caroline Buchanan, Gold Coast based Olympic contenders Bodi Turner and Melinda McLeod and a host of young local riders for the two-day event hosted by the Nerang BMX club.

In what is a fantastic boost to the series and the sport, every round of the National series will be live streamed, allowing the BMX Australia family, and riders from all over the world, the chance to watch all the action no matter where they are.

In Nerang, the live stream will commence at 4pm (local time) on Friday January 2nd and 10am (local time) on Saturday January 3rd. Visit the BMX Australia website for more information.

- BMX Australia National Series -

Green ‘n’ Gold Ticket During the 2015 National series BMX Australia is encouraging all competitors & spectators to share their National series experiences with the rest of the BMX Australia family.

By sharing photos on Instagram using the hash tag #bmxans15 entrants will have the chance to win some great prizes.

After each double-header event, BMXA will shortlist the best three photos, and whichever one receives the most likes as voted for by the BMXA community, the entrant will then receive free entry (or a refund) to the next round in the series.

In conjunction, BMXA will also shortlist the best 10 photos from all rounds (not necessarily the winning photos from previous rounds), and again the photo with the most likes will win the ‘green ‘n’ gold ticket.’ This ticket allows free entry for all rounds of the 2016 National Series for a rider of their choice.

Entrants are also encouraged to share their ‘Instagram’ photos on Facebook and Twitter to allow the entire BMXA family to share in the variety of experiences and photos from the 2015 series.

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GRANDS CHALLENGE The BMX Australia National series gets underway in Nerang next month, marking the start of what will be a bumper 2015 season. The series has been extended and will now be held over nine absorbing rounds on some of the best tracks in the country, and promises to be the best series to date.

An impressive 600 entries are expected for round one and two of the series in Nerang on January 2 and 3, with the field to feature elite riders from the United States, Japan and New Zealand. The foreign raiders will join Australia’s world number one Caroline Buchanan, Gold Coast based Olympic contenders Bodi Turner and Melinda McLeod and a host of young local riders for the two-day event hosted by the Nerang BMX club.

For the first time, BMX Australia is offering a fantastic opportunity for both a male and female 16yr, Junior Elite and Elite rider to compete at the 2015 Grand Nationals event in Tulsa. The prize will include return economy flights to Tulsa Oklahoma, accommodation for five nights and entry into the 2015 Race of Champions (ROC) and Grand Nationals events. (All travel arrangements to be booked / coordinated by the BMXA office.)

This fantastic offering will be awarded to the male and female winner of each of the three classes (16yr, Jnr Elite & Elite) of the ‘Grands Challenge’ event to be held on the Sunday of the 2015 National Championships. The event will include the top eight Australian riders based on national series points for each class (16yr, Jnr Elite & Elite) as at the end of round 9 of the 2015 National Series. (All 2015 national series event criteria apply) The event will only be open to riders who are eligible to compete for Australia at the 2015 World Championships and be run using a three final, final format, with the rider with top points at the end of the third final declared the winner. (If in the event of a tie at the end of the 3rd final then the count back process based on position from prior final applies.)

Gate selection for the first final will be seeded based on top point scorer as at the end of round 9 of the 2015 National Series. Subsequent gate selections will be based on the set format offered and this will be disclosed to riders when selecting their gate for the first final.

bmx australia agm BMX Australia held their annual general meeting (AGM) in Sydney last weekend.

In appointment news, the current president Barry Knight was re-elected unchallenged, and spoke of his excitement at retaining his position before briefly touching on the sport’s positive trajectory in participation and performance.

“I am excited and humbled that the BMX family has given me the opportunity to continue to lead this great sport,”Knight said.

“There are exciting times ahead for BMX in Australia as we continue to map out our own path as an Elite sport.

“The Olympics are less than two years away, we have a number of reigning World Champions and domestically we have never been stronger.

“Our participation numbers are growing steadily and we had a 40 percent increase in accredited officials which is very pleasing.”

Long serving Director of Finance Sally Howie did not stand for re-election and her position remains vacant.

national sign on day The BMX Australia National Sign On Day 2015 will once again provide clubs the opportunity to boost their membership numbers and welcome even more riders and their families into the BMX Australia family.

NSOD provides the chance for anyone in the community to come and try the thrill and excitement of BMX racing, free of charge, and is a widely regarded as a fun and exciting day for all participants. The day will include BMX riding, coaching and games and all participants will be given a gift bag.

The sign on days will be held over three weekends in February including: 7th or 8th February 2015 14th or 15th February 2015 21st or 22nd February 2015 April-May 2015 (NT only) BMX Australia will be running a diverse marketing campaign designed to generate exposure for the three NSOD weekends in February, and in turn seek to encourage our target market to attend at their local club.

We will also publicise the events success, generate a positive buzz around BMX and share the stories of our happy new members.

Once again a television campaign will be run, as well as a strong social media campaign and articles and stories shared within traditional local newspapers and television news, whilst our website will provide all the information required for visitors to identify their nearest club, contact details of key personnel, address etc.

Clubs are strongly encouraged to do as much as they can within the community including local schools are a where our target market resides, where the NSOD message can be communicated via leaflets, or school news letters.

Clubs and members are also encourage to generate plenty of word of mouth exposure as possible, with members actively communicating the NSOD message to friends, neighbors associates.

If your club has not yet signed up to host a NSOD, they are strongly encouraged to do so, so we can share the sport we love with the rest of Australia.

wada releases 2015 prohibited list The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has released the 2015 Prohibited List, which will come into effect on 1 January 2015.

It is important to familiarise yourself with the List to ensure you are ready for the change.

The change of most interest to many athletes is to pseudoephedrine, a substance commonly used to treat nasal and sinus congestion. WADA has removed pseudoephedrine from the 2014 Monitoring Program and it will remain on the Prohibited List. For athletes this means pseudoephedrine concentrations found in urine above 150 microgram per millilitre are prohibited in-competition in all sports.

Medications that contain pseudoephedrine like Sudafed, Codral, etc. must be ceased 24 hours prior to competition.

Other changes for 2015 seek to provide greater clarity to the List, with the majority of amendments being of a technical nature, including re-categorising and improving the terminology of existing substances and methods.

Further information is available on WADA’s website along with a summary of major modifications and details on the 2015 Monitoring Program.

You can use the Check Your Substances tool on the ASADA website to find out the status of Australian medications. Check your Substances will be updated to reflect the 2015 changes on 19 December 2014.

NT STATE TITLES RECAP Araluen Plumbing NTBMX Titles 2014 This year the NTBMX titles made their way to the legendary Red Centre BMX Club in Alice Springs, which would be one of the more isolated BMX tracks in the world, with 1200 km separating it and the next closest track. Suffice to say when the titles road show hits town, it creates fantastic interest.

Many of the Territory’s top riders were in attendance along with a strong contingent from South Australia and a dedicated group from Queensland backing up from their titles the week before. With several National and State plate holders plus a World ranked rider in the events, the racing proved to be action packed.

Racing got underway with the pre meet running like clockwork, until proceedings went into partial darkness just before the Dynamite & Crackerjack finals. Efforts were made to get racing going again but in the end there was not quite enough light.

Friday night had an exciting race program with Mini wheelers, Sprockets, MTB, Cruisers and the 8 year 20” classes. Grins, smiles & cheers from the miniature racers and their parents encapsulated the BMX racing spirit, followed by some great races in the Cruiser classes.

In the 8-10 year boy’s Ian Orr (Jingili) dug deep in a quality field to fire off a fast final lap for victory, while Liam Prow (Red Centre) and Rory Fairchild (Jingili) swapped race wins in the 11-12 year boy’s point’s race. Prow ran off the track in one moto meaning Rory claimed the number one trophy by a single point.

Kayleigh Mitchell (Satellite City) and Ellie Ascoli (Jingili) had the crowd on their feet as they were tied on points going into their fifth and final cruiser moto. The two were bar to bar right to the finish line with Ascoli narrowly winning out. Michael Carter (Jingili) was on a mission in the 30-44 men’s and won all his motos, while Tara Rowlands (Satellite City) proved she is one seriously fast mum on a bike by winning the 30+ women’s class.

Michael Smith (Red Centre) took out the grandmaster 50+ class, while Ravine Kelly (Red Centre) dominated the open Cruiser. It’s always emotive to see the crowd’s response when the 8 year 20” riders race for plates for the first time. Tykira Yuke (Jingili) secured the top trophy with five wins, while Bill Woodward (Island) was on a roll from his excellent result at the QLD titles and won all his motos on the way to the dead man final. Keiryn Orr (Jingili) won most of his motos, while Budiana Green (Jingili) and Koby Brine (Nhulunbuy) were also on the pace.

The gate dropped and Woodward took off on a lap that the others could not match to add a 1 NT plate to his new collection. Orr managed to stay in front of a determined Green, at the finish line to claim second.

The racing on Saturday night contained all the elements that make BMX racing so enthralling.

Rory Fairchild (11 boys Jingili), Ian Orr (9 boys Jingili), Ellie Ascoli (13 girls Jingili) and Michael Carter (25-39 men Jingili) rode excellent races to add the 20” titles to their Cruiser wins.

One of the highlights of the day was the showdown in the 9yr girls between Caitlin Jong (Satellite City) and Yasmin Ford (Jingili). These young ladies were even on points going into the fifth and final moto.

They swapped leads on nearly every straight, before Jong eventually secured the win. Jai Allman (Jingili) stunned the other 10yr boys with his hot final lap, while world ranked Mickayla Perkins dominated the 11yr girls.

In the 12yr boys reigning champion Luke Tahney-Grubb (Satellite City) had some stiff competition from talented riders Mathew Fox (Happy Valley) and Jamie Brewster (Happy Valley), while matching them for pace were Cameron Hyde (Satellite City), Sega Diamond (Satellite City) and Liam Prow (Red Centre). The second corner is where the race was sorted when Tahney-Grubb spied a gap and rode off with a very gratifying win.

In the 14yr boys Ryan York-Morris (Jingili) left the door open for a new champion, with Habtamu Barret (Happy Valley), Joshua Leahy (Cairns), Cameron Jaenke (Jingili) and Jayden WalkerFletcher (Satellite City) all battling it out for the title. Unfortunately Walker-Fletcher crashed at the bottom of the start hill allowing Barret to get out in front and stay there.

Although the open women’s class was a point race, it was tough to pick who would lift the trophy on the night. Reigning champion Tahyla Maurice (Jingili) was riding fast, while lap times from Tara Rowlands (Satellite City) and Jayde Freeman (Jingili) were nearly the same. Things were fairly even going into the third moto, when emotions erupted as Maurice was relegated when passing Rowlands for the lead in the last corner. Rowlands and Freeman were tied on points going into the final moto, and 48.895 seconds later after starting better, Rowlands had won the major prize.

On paper there was at least eight riders that were up to the task of winning the prestigious open men’s title. The motos and semi final had the crowd at the fence every lap with Liam Skinner (Red Centre) back on the bike and looking good. Ben Pettit (Red Centre) is a rider with plenty of talent and experience and was hungry for the title, while Reece Roach (Satellite City), Talon Dobson (Jingili) and Steven Sawyer (Jingili) were all in the mix. Chris Smith has been a champion rider in the past, while Jordan Elburn (Happy Valley) and Matt Krasevskis (Happy Valley) had all won a few races on the way to the final.

As the final gate dropped Sawyer out snapped the pack with Krasevskis and Skinner close behind. As they hit the first turn Roach and Dobson made contact, which forced the others to take evasive action. Petit had blown his gate start but with the chaos in the corner, managed to thread his way through the pack and set off in pursuit of Krasevskis who had begun to build a solid lead. Ultimately that was how they finished, with Krasevskis crowned champion, Pettit in second and Roach, having recovered, snatched third on the line from Smith.

We would like to thank the Red Centre BMX Club and all the volunteers for all their great work in helping to make the titles another memorable event. We would also like to thank the NT and SA officials for their excellent effort, and the awesome event sponsors for being part of BMX.

TAS STATE TITLES RECAP 2014 Ellis Cycles Tasmanian State Titles The best riders in Tasmania descended upon the Launceston BMX club recently for the annual Tasmanian BMX State Titles, in what has become an increasingly popular event on the state’s sporting calendar.

This year saw no less than a hundred riders compete, which was a substantial 25 per cent increase on last year’s event. There was also significant interest from riders all over the country, with plenty of nominations registered across all age groups and classes.

For the first time, the event was moved to compliment the Victorian State Titles that were held the following weekend, and was ultimately a decision that helped to strengthen the competition and will only benefit the event moving forward.

A $2000 prize pool guaranteed action packed racing in the pro class, and as predicted it didn’t disappoint, proving to be one of the highlights of the event. Josh Callan made his Tasmanian debut and raised the bar in the men’s pro open, eventually taking out the title from Tonn Haydon and Bryce Lane. In the open women it was all Cheyanne Ellis, who raced superbly to secure the title in front of Justine Lane and Hayley Becker, with the two pushing her to the line in every moto.

In the 19+ challenge class, defending champion Reece Ellis went back-to-back beating out young gun Adrian Kubsch who finished second while Duran Hall was third for the prestigious number one plate. It was a 20inch, cruiser double for Ellis who also secured the 19 - 24 cruiser division to cap off a memorable weekend.

There were plenty of other thrilling battles to keep the crowds enthralled across the event, including the 8yr boys, which saw a battle between the three local riders of Riley Kemp, Max Jackson and Talan Evans, with Kemp eventually victorious.

A brave Yasmin Ford from the Northern Territory made the boys work for it in the 9 year old challenge class eventually finishing an impressive third behind fellow NT riders Scott Marsh and Boston Murray-Williams.

While in the 14yr challenge class a very impressive Justin Oxley from Southern City BMX club proved he was ready to move up to the pro class, after taking out every moto.

BMX Tasmania would like to thank everyone involved in the event, from the staff, officials and volunteers to the riders and their parents, who all helped to make the titles such a resounding success.

VIC STATE TITLE RECAP A mixture of World and National champions made their way to the Knox BMX club recently for the 2014 Victorian State Championships.

With over one thousand entries across all classes, there was a tremendous amount of talent on offer, which ultimately lead to some very competitive racing over the two rain free days.

A flawless Bodi Turner (Eastfield) was unbeaten all day to defend his title in the blue ribbon event, the AA men, where he edged out young guns Brandon Te Hiko (Geelong) and Max Cairns (Park Orchards) and seasoned veteran Michael Fenwick (Happy Valley).

While in the women’s AA pro class, Chelsea King (Beenleigh) was also unbeaten all day to defend her title, beating out home track star Emily Richardson and Ashleigh Gunn (Cairns), while Reece Ellis (Wynyard) made it two wins in two weekends, backing up his win at the Tasmanian State Titles to take out the 19-24 division.

Reigning World number one and Australian champion, Queensland’s Thomas Tucker (Pine Rivers), stole the show and was undefeated all day in the highly competitive nine years boys division, beating out Bailey Jokic (Byford) who finished second and Jake Jans (BallaratSebastopol CC) in third.

Overall the whole weekend ran smoothly very smoothly, the Board members and Volunteers that came from all over Australia were magnificent. Months of preparation for the event went into making the event a resounding success, and without the help of volunteers the event just wouldn’t be possible.

ENTRIES NOW OPEN FOR ROUNDS 3-8

WWW.BMXAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

2014 grand NATIONALS recap A stellar mixture of Elite and rising Australian BMX stars made their way to the United States of America recently to take on some of the worlds best riders at the USA Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The strong Australian contingent took on 2,000 entrants vying for the six-foot trophies and the final shot at a National Age Group (NAG) or National ranking, in what is the largest BMX race anywhere in the world.

AUSTRALIA

Reigning World Champion Sam Willoughby entered the final round of the series leading the National ranking in the men’s AA pro division, attempting to become the third man in history to win four number 1 pro cups, and be only the second man in history to win three in a row. However after winning his previous nine races leading up to the event, it wasn’t to be, relinquishing the title and ranking to good friend Maris Strombergs after crashing out in the semi final.

It wasn’t all bad news for Willoughby though, who was presented the prestigious Golden Crank award for 2014 Pro of the Year, as voted for by USA BMX and BMX Canada members.

Also competing in the AA pro division was fellow South Australian Anthony Dean, where he finished sixth. It was a breakthrough year for Dean who finished second at the Subaru BMX National Championships in April, second in the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series, and recorded 21 main events (finals) for the year.

In what was a demonstration as to the power of our up and coming Australian representatives, a number of BMX Australia Development Academy riders recorded strong performances, including rising young guns Tristan Kronk and Corey Frieswyk, as well as fellow Queenslander Luke Hombsh, joining Willoughby and Dean in the AA pro division, who will all be better for the experience moving forward, as is National shadow squad rider Esther Woodward who made the quarterfinals of the strong 17-20 girls division.

Matthew Willoughby held his own and rode superbly to finish on the podium in third in the A pro division while Kerrod Connors reached the quarterfinals.

16 year old Matt White rewrote the wrongs of last year where he crashed out, by finishing on the podium in third in the 16 boys expert division, capping off a memorable week that also included the 16 years boys title at the Victorian State Championships.

Felicia Thomas finished fourth in the 13 girls division while Jye Hombsh and Josh McLean finished fifth and sixth respectively in the final of the 15-16 open division and Dylan Scruton came home seventh in the 15 boys expert division.

The brother and sister combination of Aislynn and Ronan Weber also performed well, with Aislynn making the semi-final of the 16 years girls whilst Ronan made the 1/8 round in the challenging 14 years boys expert division.

Congratulations also to the many other Australian riders of all age groups with over 50 Australians competing in this year’s event.

Such promising results reflects the depth of talent in Australia, and the continued interest in the development opportunities the range of competition, formats and experience the US events have to offer. Attention now turns to the 2015 season and the BMX Australia National series, which gets underway in Nerang on January 2, 2015.

what do you want for christmas?

Kai Sakakibara

Melinda McLeod

Caroline Buchanan

What do you want for Christmas?

What do you want for Christmas?

What do you want for Christmas?

A relaxed day with family, food and good weather

A years supply of free coffee

A BMX Supercross track in Canberra #PrettyPleaseSanta :)

How will you be spending Christmas?

It will be a quiet one this year as we usually have guests over from Japan in the lead up to Nerang.

We’re planning to spend some time with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

How will you be spending Christmas?

With my family back home in Mackay.

How will you be spending Christmas?

Waking up to open my stocking, having an Aussie big bbq breakfast, a food coma over lunch, nap with my french bulldog puppies then a family dinner at night

Lauren Ross (BMXA Staff)

Sam Willoughby

Rebecca Jones (BMXA Staff)

What do you want for Christmas?

What do you want for Christmas?

What do you want for Christmas?

A trip to Thredbo

These days it’s all about a good feed for me.. So a big fat roast sounds good followed by some pudding!

A fit middle-aged man with his own teeth and hair

How will you be spending Christmas?

At my sister in laws.

How will you be spending Christmas?

My parents and Alise and her family will be spending the day at our new house in San Diego.

How will you be spending Christmas?

With my family in Thirroul

速

BMX Australia Limited e: info@bmxaustralia.com.au p: (02) 9008 1300 f: (02) 8338 1500 a: PO Box 6402, Alexandria, NSW 2015