START A TEAM
Most mountain bike teams start small and grow quickly. You’ll love bringing this together for your town!
Dream it.
Administrators, teachers, parents, students and/or community members can start a mountain bike club at their local school.
Build it.
Extensive cycling experience is not necessary. One should simply have the desire to introduce kids to the sport of mountain biking.
Grow it.
Once you have decided to create a team, the League can help educate you and provide you with all the tools necessary to be an excellent coach.
What does a PICL Team Look Like?
A Pennsylvania League mountain bike team can be any size, as long as it complies with the NICA coach-to-student-athlete ratio. Teams are broken into Division 1 and Division 2 categories based on their team size (not their school size). Please see the PA Handbook for more information.
TYPES OF TEAMS
All teams are created around school district boundaries in keeping with interscholastic practices, but teams can consist of a single district or a combination of districts.
School-Based Teams
Comprised of full-time students from the same high school, public or private. School-based teams can be “official” or “unofficial” which refers to whether the team is recognized by the school as a team sport or club.
Composite Teams
Comprised of full-time students from more than one high school within the same district or close geographic proximity. Composite Teams are intended to be incubators and temporary solutions for building school-based teams, not permanent ones. If a composite team has 5 or more students from the same school, those students will be scored separately from the rest of the composite team. As a team reaches 11 riders from the same school that team will spin off into its own team. Please see the PA Handbook for more information.
TEAM REGISTRATION
All teams register with the League in order to be part of the fun, programs, and amazing experiences of the season and to obtain insurance coverage for all coaches and volunteers.
There is a flat fee of $100 for registering a team. As teams spin off from their Composite organization, they register individually.
Once a team is registered with the League, the Head Coach or Team Director will be able to invite the team’s coaches to register through the Pit Zone, NICA’s registration platform.
Existing teams are able to register in the Pit Zone in early March, and then can begin inviting coaches to Pit Zone to register.
New or interested teams should email PICL Registration at teamdevelopment@pamtb.org with questions and to get started.
IMPORTANT DATES
March: TEAM & COACH REGISTRATION. Coaches should begin working through basic coach requirements at this time.
April: RIDER REGISTRATION. Beginning in April, returning PA riders can log into Pit Zone to register. New PA riders will need to be invited to Pit Zone by their team’s Head Coach or Team Director.
Early April – June 30: PRE-SEASON. Teams may offer up to 6 pre-season activities during this time to introduce participants to the team and mountain biking. Activities can include (but are not limited to) bike checks, fun rides, mechanical workshops, and skills sessions. Day camps and clinics are a great option, too. These activities must be approved by submitting this form to be insured and comply with the training limits as outlined in the PA Handbook.
Early July - end of October: REGULAR SEASON. Team rides and training activities may commence on July 1 or thereafter. All team rides and other training activities must end two weeks after the final League race. A more detailed description can be found in the PA Handbook.
NICA COACH LICENSING PROGRAM
Coaches on new teams need only obtain a NICA Level 1 certification, but the Head Coach does need to take steps toward obtaining a Level 3 License for the team to provide the appropriate environment for our student-athletes. Please email PICL Coaching at coaching@pamtb.org if you have questions.