What is NICA?

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) is an organization that promotes middle and high school mountain bike programs in the United States. NICA provides governance, leadership, and program support to regional mountain biking organizations. 

Our regional organization is the North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League (NCICL) www.northcarolinamtb.org which sponsors 5 races each spring.  NICA and NCICL pride themselves in providing an all-inclusive athletic option to traditional stick and ball team sports.

NICA's goal is to have student athletes riding and competing for their schools. While our student athletes will represent Cox Mill HS at NICA events, we will still be training with the Cabarrus County Composite team the Cog Crushers, combining coaching staff and resources for the advancement of both teams. 

Racing for Cox Mill is not the only reason to become a NICA student athlete, in fact you don't have to race at all if you don't want to. Some of the other benefits include:

• Scheduled training events and practices with CERTIFIED and EXPERIENCED coaches.
• Skills building and conditioning with coaches and teammates.
• Admission to the Pit Zone at all NCICL races and the ability to do team pre-rides on the Saturdays before Sunday races.
• Discounts at designated bike shops and on some sponsored products.

We are the first team in Cabarrus County to get to the numbers needed to start a school-based team! Join the fun and represent your school!

Come to a meeting for an information packet with all the details on how to join the team. The remind for the club is used for both the club and team information for the first couple months of school, to allow time for any NICA members to get signed up on the separate team information app. At any time, you can reach out to the club sponsor or use the remind code to get more information. That remind code is: @mtbcm2  Practices start in the late fall and continue throughout the winter. The first race is usually scheduled in March.

The 2022 NICA season: Our athletes competed in four events around the state. Our racers won the first Hype award given out in 2 years for being a rolling cheering section complete with saxophone and air horns for all the athletes, were complemented by other teams on their knowledge and willingness to talk fellow racers through on the trail fixes so they could keep racing, and all improved their race standings as the season went on. 

The 2021 NICA Season: While we didn't race for our 2021 season, we did have a season. We rode and worked as a team to build our skills, our endurance, and help our local trail community. The 2021 "Season of Adventure" took us to the following trails:

Salisbury MTB trail   Rob Wallace Park trail       Uwharrie National Forest trail    Lake Norman State Park trail 

Dark Mountain trail   Sherman Branch trail       New River greenway                   Kitsuma/Heartbreak trail

Rocky River trail       Dupont State Forest trail  Mazeppa MTB Trail                      US National Whitewater Center trails        

and our new home trail at Brown Mill Mountain Bike trail which many of our team members have helped to create. 

In addition to developing the skills and athleticism needed to conquer the unique challenges presented by each of these trails, some of our teammates and coaches spent time certifying in Wilderness First Aid classes. 

We also got to celebrate with our Composite Club teammate who was named as a GRiT ambassador for our region! GRiT stands for Girls Riding Together, and we need lady riders to join us! This is not a guys-only sport, and some of the toughest competitors around attend the GRiT events.  NICA and the Cog Crushers are an inclusive organization who welcome all who want to ride with us. 

The 2020 COG CUP CHALLENGE While NICA was on furlough due to the COVID 19 virus, the Cox Mill club decided to challenge our sister team the C4 Cog Crushers to weekly competitions to keep our skills sharp and muscles moving. Since the two teams are called the Cox Mill Cog Crushers and the C4 Cog Crushers, we cobbled together a little bragging rights bike parts trophy and named it the Cog Cup to be put on the Team Coach's mantle for the time their club is in the lead.

Our quarantine challenge lasted a total of four weeks in which we saw over 5500 miles ridden, run, walked, unicycled, paddled, worked out, and just plain worked between the two clubs, their parents and families, and some of our own teachers and admin at Cox Mill. The Cog Cup started out with Cox Mill, and our club brought it back home for the final week. All while following the appropriate social distancing protocols. I am so proud of my students, their parents, coaches, and teachers. 

Agents of Shield report

During that same time, over 1000 medical face shields were 3D printed and distributed by the Cox Mill and C4 clubs to front line medical employees through a grass roots movement to help our local hospitals meet the challenges they are facing. 

Mountain Bikers ROCK! See you on the trails!