Helping up and coming racers

[ajturbo]

today while i was working,
i got to thinking how "we" as a group of racers could COLLECTIVELY help out young, new up and coming racers to our sport of road racing...

The old guys could help out with their experiences
The middle aged guys could help out with an easy target for the new people
The women could help out by wearing really tight leathers...

The others could help out by just racing so well we all go Awww and aahh when they fly by...

but how will this REALLY help a young person get STARTED?..

now the Vic club has two 150's for young riders, ( they get their entries and a bike paid for, they pay for all running costs..fuel, oil)

that is great for the first year.. but where too after that?

GP??
or pro twins, F3...F2...F1..F4()

how much does this cost?.... ask anyone racing in these classes... LOTS..

young Ken Jones (and his team mate who's name i cannot remember sorry)has a great team and done very well under the guidance of Martty....


anyone else???....(remember i am talking 15-18 year olds)

no

why?

$$$$$

so how can WE help out.... ???

i was thinking... that if we ALL

DONATED $ 10 per race day, to the club holding the races, to be used ONLY for the development of young novice riders...

for example.. the vic club has approximately 200 racers turn up for each of the 6 rounds we had last year....

that is 2k a race meeting meaning there would be around 12k for the development of our younger racers...just for the vic club.. just imagine if ALL the clubs did this...( keeping it all local)

how do we get this off the ground?..

PLEASE NOTE: Yes i AM a member of the Vic club and NO the club has NO idea of this idea...

i have just put this out for discussion

[ajturbo]

ummm.. i am not sure what CHCH is doing ok...

[quallman1234]

Good idea AJ.

Although for me, im more interested in looking for a mentor... E.g Someone who can tell me where im going wrong and so on.

Although most guys are quite busy during the day, what's fair enough.

Id put 10 $ in. Although people are already complaining about the entry fee's.

P.s If you check the Rules for the Vic Club, the entry fee's for up to 16 yr old's are only 15$ (This includes luke btw!). Ill search and quote it for you.

[quallman1234]

There you go, people would argue that juniour's already have support.

But compared to the SI we have nothing. Although the club does a bloody good job support junior's but are very limited.

Maybe Sausage sizzle's could be the way to go at each race meeting, to help pay for cost's.

[roadracingoldfart]

Hmmmm
Valid call for help but this fella is doing his bit already .


well im doing a little bit anyway

[ajturbo]

There you go, people would argue that juniour's already have support.

But compared to the SI we have nothing. Although the club does a bloody good job support junior's but are very limited.

Maybe Sausage sizzle's could be the way to go at each race meeting, to help pay for cost's.

yes i do know that the Juniors are cheep to entry the racing... what i am talking about is getting them onto real race bikes...

there are a couple of teams that have the places for the "kids" on offer but it will cost someone LOTS...

Paul, you are doing us a great thing!!!..
what i am suggesting will help out

IE:.. a new young racer, wants more after a year or so ( like luke) dad (me) cannot afford to buy let alone look after a 125/650/600/1000cc bike when it needs work ( unless it needs petrol!!!)

Team A has a couple of bikes, one comes up spare... cost to race this bike with all back up, coaching, advice...$10k...

where would (dad) get this sort of money to help the next rossi/stoner/luke?

If his club had a fund set aside for Junior development, he/she could apply for full/part/some funding.
they would be expected to submit weekly/monthly reports on what they were learning, how they were going... attend all meetings (committee meeting etc)

they would be taught how a club works also... you know.. give back as much as you take....


or am i just waisting my time?....

hey Quall....

you were saying that people are moaning about the cost to us racers.... but the more racers there are.. the less it will cost...

also even if it was only $5/bike.. it would be $5 more than we are putting into it now!!!

[quallman1234]

I think its a good idea!

But im sure alot of people would complain .

Hopefully you can get some interest and get something going there Andy!

[Sparky Bills]

Would love to help. But im struggling enough with my own bills.

Great idea either way!

[Trudes]

Sounds like a good idea AJ!! And like you say, the kids give back some to the club by supporting it, going to meetings and seeing what goes on behind the scenes and helping out where they can. The kids could also be involved in getting out there and doing some fundraising also, like you say sausage sizzle, bike/car washes, selling themselves as a brolly dolly/pit bitch etc. Good thinking.

[Ivan]

The problem I see,
Is

You are gonna have 2-3-4-5 juniors all wanting money end of the day that money cut between them aint gonna do stuff all.
And then youl have alot of racers wont want to pay that money because they are paying for someone to get a new race bike etc and you have me for example having to loan money off of my dad to buy a new bike for this season. For me I wouldnt want to pay the extra money for someone to get a bike and me having to loan 6 grand.


I am into helping the juniour riders do not get me wrong I have had a lot of advice from Shaun and others over the past few yearsand to be honest buying the kids a bike aint gonna help them.

But having someone who can watch you lap for lap and see were you are going slower than others helps alot.

Remember as the saying goes Racing aint cheap

[Str8 Jacket]

What about the "older" people who want to get into racing but are in the same boat as the "younger" racers?..... *nudge, nudge*

[Billy]

I am into helping the juniour riders do not get me wrong I have had a lot of advice from Shaun and others over the past few yearsand to be honest buying the kids a bike aint gonna help them.

But having someone who can watch you lap for lap and see were you are going slower than others helps alot.

Remember as the saying goes Racing aint cheap

Your right on the money there Ivan,If the said Junior riders were as keen as you need to be to get into serious racing they would beg,Steal or borrow the money to get there.Just like the rest of us have to and if they cant be bothered doing that then they are shit out of luck.Kenneth and yourself are prime examples.He worked 2 jobs just so he could go racing cause his parents like most others couldnt afford to pay for it.If the club relly wanted too help the best way I think would be to invest more on Streetstock bikes and do rider training days for the new kids coming through and then if they are good/enthusiastic enough they will take it further themselves.Im helping a new junior rider at the moment whos doing his first meeting at Levels this weekend under the guidance of Peter Jones,Hes only 13 and hes bought a bike for the Actrix series up North and hes buying 1 to do the South Island series cause thats what I told him he needed to do.He had his first ride on a Streetstock bike last weekend at Edgecumbe go kart track just so we could get him used too using the clutch and changing gears.Thats the sort of riders that need cultivating,The ones with work ethic.

[quallman1234]

Get luke a part time job, to help out a little bit.
10000$ / 52 Weeks = Shit load! (197$ a week).
Maybe luke could get a after school job, if he works for instant 10 hours a week then.
10Hrs * 9$ a hr (if he's lucky) = 90$ 0.805 - tax = 72.50$ a week.
That's still 197 - 72.50$ a week. = 125.50 a week still a fucken shit load!
Has this team, remebered that the cost's to enter the vic series are a shit load cheaper for luke?
You could also do fundraiser's like a BBQ at the buckets? Thats not a bad idea actually!
BBQ outside The Warehouse?

Just suggestions to try figure something out :S.
Wont be easy!

[Shaun]

Your right on the money there Ivan,If the said Junior riders were as keen as you need to be to get into serious racing they would beg,Steal or borrow the money to get there.Just like the rest of us have to and if they cant be bothered doing that then they are shit out of luck.Kenneth and yourself are prime examples.He worked 2 jobs just so he could go racing cause his parents like most others couldnt afford to pay for it.If the club relly wanted too help the best way I think would be to invest more on Streetstock bikes and do rider training days for the new kids coming through and then if they are good/enthusiastic enough they will take it further themselves.Im helping a new junior rider at the moment whos doing his first meeting at Levels this weekend under the guidance of Peter Jones,Hes only 13 and hes bought a bike for the Actrix series up North and hes buying 1 to do the South Island series cause thats what I told him he needed to do.He had his first ride on a Streetstock bike last weekend at Edgecumbe go kart track just so we could get him used too using the clutch and changing gears.Thats the sort of riders that need cultivating,The ones with work ethic.

AJT, great thoughts mate, BUT I also agree with Ivan and Billy, You best get back to renting yourself out again hahahaha

[oyster]

Billy and Ivan. Yep, there needs to be commitment from the youngsters and supporters. But that often doesn't materialise straight away, so you have to be patient. Often.

What's missing are the basic principles of any successful sport or business.

Recruit, train, support. ESSENTIAL!!!!!

While clubs just open the gates, sign up riders, watch them ride and say "see ya later" the sport will NEVER progress. Bluntly, it's a problem of leadership (or lack of)
Don't blame the 100's (1000's?) of kids out there who potentially could be your "model" sportspeople Billy describes.