OK the final numbers are in. The full results will be up shortly at http://www.ncnca.org/docs/clubs/challenge.shtml but for those who can't wait for the top 4 clubs they are.

Velo Girls................13 new riders 31 total members 41.94% new members
Team Taylor...........16 new riders 40 total members 40.00%
Stanislaus/Merlock....3 new riders 11 total members 27.27%
Delta Velo...............10 new riders 43 total members 23.26%

Congradulations to the top 4 teams. THe current plan is to have a presentation after the women's 3/4 race at San Rafael. Hopefully each of the top 4 team can have a representative at the prresentation.

velogirl wrote:
I think a more useful stat (although probably impossible to generate) would be the number of 2nd year racers who were unattached their first year who remain unattached. Or, the retention rate for unattached racers versus attached racers.

Not that hard to figure out if you have the database information.

In 2005 we had 7779 new racers join during the year. 352 of those riders were unattached at the end of 2005.

This year 616 of those new racers from last year have renwed and only 182 of them are currently unattached. Last year we had a lot of people take out their first racing license after Sept 1st ( probably just joining to race cross) so some of those who haven't renewed from last year still may renew now that Cross season is approaching.

No wonder you were all giddy like a school girl, rooracer! It would appear that Team Taylor recruited 9 new racers just this week, almost tripling the number of new racers on your team for the year. And almost all of them are women. What a great recruitment effort on your part. I can't wait to see these women out there racing!

Congratulations!

Is that number (unattached new riders) a different ratio than in past seasons? I don't think it's unusual for new riders to be unattached.

When I decided to race, the first thing I did (at the advice of my then-coach) was get my USAC license. Turns out it was a couple of years before I actually raced, but I still held a license. There are also riders who get a license because they're going to participate in clinics (and maybe race).

I think a more useful stat (although probably impossible to generate) would be the number of 2nd year racers who were unattached their first year who remain unattached. Or, the retention rate for unattached racers versus attached racers.

I honestly don't think most clubs do a good job recruiting new racers. New racers are a commodity (especially master men) -- there are lots of them out there. It's a big investment for many clubs to develop new racers and it's a lot of work too. It's less work (although maybe more of an investment) to recruit upper-cat experienced racers.

I personally don't think there's anything wrong with having a certain percentage of new riders who are unattached. Some of those racers will only do a handful of races and decide racing's not for them. Or maybe they compete in a less team-oriented discipline like cyclocross or mtn biking. Or maybe they join a team but never change their license. Either way, I don't think having unattached racers is an indicator that there's a failure in the club structure.

While a number of clubs have added new riders this year we still have had 283 new riders who are currently unattached. Out of the 563 new racers who have taken out a license so far this year 283 are currently unattached. We also have 1017 riders unattached out of the 3731 total licensed riders.

The final results will be posted by mid morning.

The presntation is currently scheduled for after the women's 3/4 race.

It will be interesting to see if there are any late changes in the standings. The number of licensed riers has increased 24 since last friday. No way of knowing if these are new racers or renewals though.

Thanks for the update!!

Will there be a final one sometime Friday so we can see how this all plays out? Looks like it could be tight in a few spots. Also nice to see some clubs adding new members!! Also, when it the presentation at SR on Saturday? Thanks again......

Yeah, new racer development is my middle name! Oh yeah, that's three middle names.

Casey, I'll pm you -- I've got a question.

Glad someone asked :)

The new update is up at the above link. Not to many changes overall from the last update . The major change being that Velo Girls jumped from 4th to 1st with a late season surge. Based on how the season has gone so far we probably will not see any changes in the final week.

Is there an update on the Club Challenge? Only 1 week left - it would be interesting to see where things stand.

It has been a while since I've posted an update about the club challenge. JUst a reminder that the Club Challenge is a contest to give clubs an incentive to help recruit new racers into the sport. Clubs that are NCNCA member clubs, had at least 10 licensed USCF racers as members last year and have at least 10 licensed USCF racers this year qualify for the competition. The top 4 clubs will share in a $2,000 prizelist with $1,000 going to the winning club, $500 to the second place club, $300 to the 3rd place club and $200 going to the 4th place club.

Currently the top 4 clubs are

Stanislaus/Merlock 3 new racers out of 11 total racers for 27.27% new racers

Alta Alpina 5 new racers out of 24 total racers for 20.83% new racers

Central Valley Cycling 11 new racers out of 56 total racers for 19.64% new racers

Velo Girls 4 new racers out of 21 total racers for a total of 19.05% new racers

The total list of currently eligible clubs for the challenge who have at least 1 new racer can be found at http://www.sonic.net/~caseyk/06clubchallenge.html

The club challenge ends on the Friday before the San Rafel Criterium with the awarding of the checks to the top 4 teams to be held at the Sn Rafael Crit. See the above link for more Info about who qualifies as a new racer for the challenge.

The Club Challenge page has been updated with this weeks information. The Club challenge page is located at http://www.sonic.net/~caseyk/06clubchallenge.html

The general riders demographics page has also been updated at http://www.sonic.net/~caseyk/demographics.html

Remove the period at the end of the link and that does the trick.

Matt

The link doesn't seem to be working.