Questions and Answers

Overview

NICA Registration/Race Fee – $310​

• NICA Programming

• NICA Secondary Insurance

• League Development

• Event Production

Team Fee – $0

• Check out a Team Jersey ( may purchase fitted or MTB Trail jersey)

Volunteer Deposit – $0

• All coach and athletes are asked to commit 5 hours of trail maintenance to local trails during the season.

Optional – $ Variable

• Items can also be purchased at the team’s Voler store

Breakdown of fees

The minimum NICA fee + Team Fee + Volunteer Deposit are the costs that cover all practices, races, and any other Nebraska High School Cycling events during the season.  When combined, it will cost about $310 for an athlete to join the team.  These fees are a single, one-time-payment for the current season.

NICA League Fee

The biggest portion of the total cost is the NICA league fee which covers all the national and local support to provide the NE League experience! In return, athletes access special offers from sponsors of NICA and the league, including discounts on product and event registration. Additionally, NICA fees are used to provide:

• NICA registration

• NICA secondary insurance coverage for riders and ride leaders

• NE league registration

• Team support and development

• Event (Races, GRiT, TTC, Adventure) development

• Team rides and events with certified NICA coaches

• Professionally led coaching education and advancement and a top quality youth sports coaching curriculum and philosophy

• Innovative and class-leading youth development programming

• A safe, professional, secure, and appropriate environment and experience for middle and high school students

​Team Fee

The team fee ($0, we are sponsor supported) covers costs related to operating our local team. These costs include

• Athlete Jersey (Fitted or MTB Trail may be pirched at additional cost)

• Stipend for qualified Coach support

• Tents, Flags, Bike Racks, other team equipment

• Race Day PitZone day supplies,

• Race Day FeedZone nutrition and hydration

• Preseason activities

• Sponsored gear and discounts

• 80+ Hours of certified and insured coach availability for training, skills development, and recreational mountain biking.

• Guidance and support in goal setting and self-evaluation

• Support for developing training plans

• Four race weekend preride and team building

• Four race events, individual and team scoring

• Access to discounted team gear

• Fun, encouraging, and inclusive atmosphere

• Annual team awards dinner

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A team uniform is required. For Lancaster Composite team(s) this only includes the race top which is included with your team fees. It must be worn during the athlete’s races. Athletes may purchase more than the racing jersey through the team store.

Volunteer Deposit

The Volunteer deposit ($0) represents our team’s commitment to supporting the development and maintenance of local trails. The deposit is written commitment only for our planning purposes. Athletes log at least 5 hours of active trail maintenance with the team director of an activity approved by a land manager.

Related Expenses

You may incur additional costs for a bike (if you don’t already have one), helmet, maintenance supplies, and for travelling to races (gas, lodging, and meals). Some people camp at the race venues (space is usually provided) or do day trips to minimize travel costs. Go to https://www.nebraskamtb.org/race to access the race flyers for more information about the races. Start up costs for any sport can be expensive. However, when compared to other club activities, mountain biking is relatively equivalent to mainstream sports and their respective travel expenses.

Can you Sponsor?

Can you source a sponsorship from a local business for our team? If you are able to, 10% of the sponsorship funds (up to the cost of NICA + Team fees) is applied to the athlete’s registration and the remainder is used by the team.

Preseason: April 1 – June 30

During this time we will have a few weekend events that are open to all riders to learn what mountain biking is like and register for the season. Check our calendar for dates and locations!

Practices: July 1 – October 30

Lancaster Composite will meet most weeks, on Thursday nights, for two hours. Occasionally we may, on the weekend, have an extra activity such as a trail day to help support the places we ride. New to 2023 are “Hot Lap Wednesdays” on the first Wednesday of each month, where students will get in quick laps at Van Dorn Park to build skill and endurance. While our team generally meets at Van Dorn Park, there will be weeks where the team or subsets of it meet at other locations such as Wilderness Park. This will always be communicated to riders and families beforehand.

Events: August 27 – October 23

We will have 5 weekend races as a part of the Nebraska Interscholastic Cycling League. These events all comprise of time to get on the trail and become familiar with the course on Saturday followed by races on Sunday. The 2023 race series has us visiting Swanson Park in Bellevue, Black Elk Park in Blair, Tranquility Park in Omaha, Our own Branched Oak Lake northwest of Lincoln and we’ll wrap up the season at Maskenthine Lake Recreation Area near Stanton.

NICA upholds the value of Equity as, “the fair treatment, equal access, opportunity, advancement and elimination of barriers to encourage participation for all.” Lancaster Composite recognizes this value, specifically the need to make the sport of mountain biking accessible to people that represent every fabric of our beautiful community. We actively work to develop partnerships with local organizations, to build a trusted relationship, and to extend opportunities that connect middle and high school students from these organizations with our team. This model of collaboration will ensure that our team closely reflects the make-up of our multicultural and socioeconomically diverse community, remains focused on providing an exceptional team-oriented experience, and connects financial resources needed to offer financial support for equipment, registrations, and transportation for overburdened and under resourced student athletes.