Geared Up Youth

New opportunities for kids to grow, learn, and go fast!

Are your kids not into ball sports? Perfect! Get their wheels rolling with like-minded kids and parents who are shifting gears from traditional ball sports to racing mountain bikes. Emporia’s own Coyote Composite is the local branch of the National Intercollegiate Cycling Association (NICA).

Coyote Composite offers mountain biking for sixth through 12th graders, meeting them at every level of cycling with welcoming friendship and team spirit. A mainstay of the program is that “no kid sits on the bench–and everybody cheers everybody.”

Coyote Composite is the only youth mountain biking program in the area. Events are structured around kids and safety but showcase how the higher-level NICA events are conducted. These professional-style events highlight the value of learning skills they can use for any kind of bike riding. Team members work alongside coaches and volunteers with fundraising events like bike washes and bake sales. The idea is for everyone to be invested with a little sweat equity. It’s not unusual to see Coyote Composite riders move up to the 25- or 50-mile annual Unbound Gravel races. In fact, a number of Unbound athletes came from the NICA program.

This is, however, strictly mountain bike racing, not gravel riding a la Unbound. Coyote Composite and NICA races are dirt trail races: not on roads but still not gravel riding. Young riders are taught to ride bikes safely and are trained in how to respond to an emergency situation. The caveat is that the program is fun and that everyone is welcome. Team members do race, but the group is not race-focused. Coaches and team members are competitive, but the group is more about building a community of young cyclists. Many parents are involved with the program at all levels.

The Coyote Composite program strives to offer something for young riders at various levels of difficulty and competition. Riders younger than 11 years old are invited to certain Coyote Composite events for a preview of what youth mountain biking is all about and ride the course at their own pace. At the upper end is the Devo team, much like a premier soccer or baseball team. Devo (short for developmental) riders participate with mountain bikes, cyclocross, enduro racing, and more; it is a traveling team.

Coyote Composite coaches are the heart and soul of the program. Avid cyclists themselves, some have only gotten back on the bike in the last few years, because of the program, and some are parents. They emphasize how mountain biking helps them stay healthy, both mentally and physically. They all enjoy teaching the sport and sharing mountain biking knowledge with young cyclists. They say that sharing their passion for cycling with local youth is a way of giving back and helping build a stronger community for future generations.

Learn more about Coyote Composite at teamcoyotemtb.org and their Facebook and Instagram pages, phone them at 620757-1539, or email coyotecomposite@gmail.com.