adminRepresenting Bulawayo will be Kiara McAllister, Ruben and Aimee Smith, Hana and Harley Taylor, Declan Oldrieve, Andre Pretorius, Claudia Petersen and the England-based Mathew Bourne.
Hana and Harley Taylor have, however, pulled out.
Hana pulled out for health reasons and her brother because of a fractured arm.
Speaking on Sunday at the club’s track on one of their fortnightly competitions, vice-chairman and team coach Norman Bourne spoke with pride of the team’s growth in the last few years and their vision.
“We are proud of our achievements as a team because with the limited resources we have, we still manage to produce champions.
“At the moment we have 24 members and this comes after we had an all-time low of six registered riders around 2008-9. And in about two years, we now have national BMX riders,” he said.
The club’s highest registered number of riders was 64 in 2002.
At the moment the club is looking for new members to boost their ranks and challenge the dominance of Harare and Mashonaland in the sport.
Chairman Gerald Oostehuizen said the national body Zimbabwe BMX Association had introduced a development section, an outreach programme which started in Harare and has now reached Bulawayo.
The programme targets the underprivileged but talented and dedicated riders.
“In this programme, talented riders are identified and get sponsored to pursue their love and passion for the sport as long as they show dedication, passion and discipline.
“Again as a club we have bought seven club bicycles which we intend to hire out at our premises for all interested riders who want to try out their riding abilities.
“The hiring fee per day is $10 though the first two, three days are for free,” he said.
Oostehuizen conceded that staying in the riding game was tough as the club had no sponsors and had to rely on fundraising events that were organised and managed by parents.
“Bikes are expensive and the 2012 model costs around $3 000, so you can imagine how it is without a sponsor. We need sponsorship,” he said.
Team coach Bourne also lamented the lack of recognition from schools as most schools did not recognise BMX riding in their sporting disciplines and as such riders had no proper support structure as they needed support from both parents and schools.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has allowed BMX riding to be done in schools but in Bulawayo we are coming against walls in our attempt to have the sport embraced in schools.
“In Harare, schools have taken up the sport and that is why Harare is so successful because of that maximised exposure.
“We also need that recognition by schools in Bulawayo that is why we go to our riders’ schools to present the trophies they would have won in a bid to popularise the sport in Bulawayo,” said Bourne.
A parent, Mike Taylor, also echoed the sentiments and encouraged all riders who had potential to go to the club for trials.
“We need maximum exposure and schools will be the best platform to publicise the sport so that we get more team members.
“We need riders from the western suburbs, we need riders from all parts of Matabeleland,” said Taylor who is former chairman of the club.
Online Reporter