Sean Kelly says it is mostly older riders joining Cycling Ireland, whose increased membership cannot disguise the need to attract younger riders, especially children (Photo: Dc Images)
By Brian Canty
Sean Kelly believes though the bike boom is undoubtedly a good thing for cycling in Ireland, harnessing it to produce younger riders still remains an issue.
The Carrick legend warned that some initiatives aimed at bringing new riders into the sport are easier said than done, and that the future of the sport from a competitive standpoint rests with parents.
“There’s always something you can do to promote cycling but when you start suggesting the clubs should be doing more to recruit, the issue is always money,” he said.
“The clubs will say financially they can’t do it because they organise two races every year and it’s so costly to organise races in Ireland.
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“You’ve all the health and safety and you’ve to put that first, at such a big cost.”
Sean Kelly says having rides at sportives that kids can take part in can be a great way to ensure a parent's interest in cycling spreads to younger family members. But he insists that interest must be converted into children joining clubs.
Kelly also lamented the fact that schools are not being tapped more in an effort to recruit younger riders, though Cycling Ireland’s Sprocket Rocket programme has been rolled out.
“It has to be a Government initiative or something from the sports council,” he said in reference to a larger structured programme aimed at getting more kids on bikes.
“That is a big undertaking and I don’t think we’re going to see that with the times we have now,” he said, referring to the continued depressed state of the public finances.
However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom from the former world No 1.
“The thing with cycling and the way it’s going is that sportive events are doing so well,” said Kelly.
The revival of BMX racing, along with projects such as Sprocket Rocket, have worked to get kids interested in cycling. But Kelly feels there should be a Government-led major push in schools to introduce children to cycling.
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“The dads are coming along with the bike, the son or daughter is 8 or 10 years old and they do the shorter spin.
“And that gets them really interested and the kids go to a club. But it has to come from the family.
“So with the sportives and the amount of people riding the bike; we should see more younger people taking membership of a club.”
This isn’t always the case, said Kelly.
“Cycling Ireland talk about membership but if you go into the detail of it right now, percentage-wise, the majority of cyclists are probably the guys who are 30 years older and more.
“The younger age groups; U12 and U14 - I’m not sure of the numbers but I reckon it’s small in comparison.”
Kelly believes a velodrome was needed a decade or more ago, and had it been built then we would be reaping the benefits now with a bigger youth racing scene.
He maintains a velodrome in Ireland should have been built “10 or 15 years ago”, and he laments the fact it wasn’t.
“Safety is another one of the barriers when you’re organising something,” he explained.
“When you have a club who want to organise something for young guys during the summer then the family are concerned about their son or daughter out on the road.
“But if you’ve a track you can get them learning all the bike handling skills and that’s a big part of it.
“A track would have always been an asset and still can be a huge asset.
“We should have had it 10 or 15 years ago and we’d be seeing the benefits of it now if we did.”
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