The league is the newest to join growing youth mountain biking organization; races begin in fall 2024
ORINDA, California (October 10, 2023) – The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) today announced that it accepted the bid from the Golden State South Interscholastic Cycling League (GoSo) to become the newest league to join NICA, which develops interscholastic mountain biking programs for student-athletes and coaches across the United States.
“We continue to see growing interest and grassroots demand year over year in NICA and our full range of programming and initiatives,” said NICA President Amanda Carey. “The Golden State South Interscholastic Cycling League is the ideal addition to our national program. Establishing a NICA league in Southern California will offer as many kids as possible access to high-quality mountain biking opportunities and continue growing NICA with thriving youth mountain bike leagues that reflect our core values of fun, inclusivity, equity, respect and community.”
Brandon Baker has been named League Director of the Golden State South Interscholastic Cycling League, which will begin hosting events and races in fall 2024.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with NICA, and our team is excited to get rolling and start the Golden State South League,” Baker said. “We have some wonderful communities in the area and the sport of mountain biking has grown exponentially over the last few years. With a solid foundation, we are stoked to welcome new and experienced individuals – student-athletes, coaches, teams and sponsors – in making the GoSo league a success. Most importantly: no bench warming, everyone is on the team!”
NICA’s Pit Zone registration system will open in March 2024 for GoSo coaches and in April 2024 for student-athletes. GoSo’s preseason will begin in April 2024, the regular season starts in July 2024 and racing will begin in the fall of 2024.
GoSo plans to lean into its strong leadership in its trail stewardship program, which encourages all student-athletes to get involved in advocating for, and maintaining, their local trails. Equally, NICA’s GRiT program, which is designed to invite more girls into cycling, is a huge focus for the league.
The league is also scouting locations for races, from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, and looks forward to building strong, capable and exuberant teams.
“Our league is looking to build encouraging, inclusive and supportive bike communities all across the Southern California area,” Baker added. “We are all looking forward to building the family camping weekends and can’t wait to see the kids riding and racing hard!”
With the addition of the Golden State South Interscholastic Cycling League, NICA has grown to 32 leagues and counting, and increases the regional opportunities for youth cycling. NICA supports its leagues through racing, outdoor adventure and teen trail corps programming along with coach licensing among other efforts. In addition, the organization offers an initiative called GRiT, which is designed to get more girls into cycling, along with diversity, equity and inclusion programs to bring more under-represented communities into NICA. NICA’s core values of fun, inclusivity, equity, respect and community are visible throughout its national organization and leagues.
