Juniors

Illawarra Cycle Club has an active junior development program – with plans to make it even bigger and better in 2021!

While we offer road cycling participation events and races for juniors aged under seven up at our Sunday morning (in summer) and Saturday afternoon racing at Dapto, our main focus is on the track.

We believe that track cycling provides a safe way for children to gain important skills and fitness which will assist them on bike paths and on the road – as well as the potential for a whole new sport. Our club is fortunate to have the licence to use and manage the Wollongong City Council-owned Velodrome Illawarra in Lindsay Maynes Park on the Princes Highway at Unanderra, a 270 metre oval concrete track with just enough banking at either end to make it interesting, but not so great that it is frightening for our littlest riders.

Learning to ride a dedicated track bike – with a single gear, a fixed wheel and drop handlebars, tends to come naturally to children and we have a number of small club bikes available which suit children aged 6-15 years so they can have a try at our try the track/skills sessions after school on Wednesday (4-5.30pm).

We have a number of accredited coaches who particularly enjoy working with children and our junior coaches do not charge for their services.

As children progress and may decide to join the free training /coaching programs we offer, we and the other parents can help source bikes for them to borrow or buy, provide advice on gearing, and welcome them into our summer Wednesday night racing program.

From there, our very active junior group enjoys traveling to compete at carnivals with neighboring clubs including Sydney, Canberra, Wagga, Goulburn, Newcastle and also for country NSW, and even national championships.

While our track season comes to a close at the end of March (with racing resuming in October), our Wednesday afternoon junior introduction/skills/training session continues from 4-5.30pm. We will also be shortly introducing a track endurance session for more experienced junior riders to run through the winter months. Watch this space, or “like” Illawarra Cycle Club on Facebook for further details.