NICA expanding with more high school MTB leagues in 2013

Image 1 of 2

The strong growth of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) continues with applications from Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia to join the organization's Project League program. Project Leagues have access to select NICA services, providing them the needed public awareness, support, funding and momentum to become fully fledged chapter leagues.

As many as three will be chosen for 2013 induction, and the total number of NICA leagues - now seven - will rise to as many as 10. This will bring the organization three steps closer to its goal of providing mountain biking opportunities to high school students coast to coast by 2020.

Supporting this expansion requires a considerable depth of technical advisory experience leading up to the initial racing season. NICA's Executive Director, Matt Fritzinger, who founded NICA, and the pioneering NorCal League before that, is uniquely qualified for this job and will transition from his current role to focus on key tasks such as new league technical development and fundraising.

"NICA is a jet plane we have built together, and it has been a great thrill to be centrally involved in building it," said Fritzinger. "This aircraft is ready to be handed over to a seasoned pilot, rather than someone who specializes in the creative work. I'm very excited about building new leagues where I can draw on a decade of operations experience. I also look forward to building relationships with new supporters who want to join this movement.'"

Fritzinger will remain in post as Executive Director to participate in the transition. NICA is presently engaged in the search for a replacement and interviews are being handled by NICA President Rick Spittler.

"The idea of Matt transitioning from Executive Director to special projects was a joint decision by Matt and the NICA Board," said Spittler. "Since Matt is continuing in his role until a new Executive Director is found, there will be no disruption in any races or day-to-day activities. Matt is simply refocusing to accommodate NICA's incredible growth. He has built the organization from one league in Northern California to something that will be nationwide in the next decade, and now he's going to focus solely on that goal."

For a job description and application instructions click here.