After a year away from my blog I thought it was time i came back with a few updates.
As of February 2014 I was put on the Irish XC Youth Development Team as an
u18. In 2014 however I will be leaving the Juvenile categories and moving to senior so this just gave me a brief one year experience of what it was like to be on a proper race team
The youth development team:
The Youth Development Team was Started in February 2013 after many years of Cycling Ireland turning a blind eye to youth development in the Cross Country discipline. The selection process was simple enough with two U14/U16 boys being chosen from each Irish province and one U18 boy being chosen from each province (there was some variation here however)
The team was run by a Mr Jon Hynes who is experienced in the development of youth in many adventure sports. Jon throughout 2012 showed us someone to go to in the case of emergencies as well as offering us some invaluable advice at times, whether it be in relation to racing, training, strategies, mindsets and even setups as well as the odd spin to races for myself.
Admittedly being the eldest on the squad I felt at times out of my comfort zone following certain ways in which the squad was ran but I do now understand that certain disciplinary actions are essential when dealing with people from 12-18 years old.
Looking back on my 2013 season in relation to the squad now I feel it has done its job and I am happy to move on into my future of racing. The development squad has provided me with the solid race foundation which I lacked in my four years of experience before hand. I do feel as though I can reap the benefits of all we were provided with throughout the season e.g. Nutritionists, Sports Psychologists, Mechanic skills, Race preparation, training, warm ups,new friends, race mileage/experience and most importantly highlighting my weak points in which I aim to make my specialties for 2014.
