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USA CYCLING TRACK TRAINING CENTERS: PROGRAM SUMMARY
The USA Cycling Track Training Center-East is an elite coaching and
athlete management program designed by USA Cycling, Inc. (USAC) to
be outsourced to three leading cycling organizations in the United
States. The USAC TTC program will compliment the USA Olympic Committee's
scaled down Resident Athlete Program and existing national track team
structure with autonomous, privately funded, USAC-branded and endorsed
training centers. This program is designed in accordance with developing
policy at USAC regarding the restricted outsourcing of coaching and
management services to qualified facilities and programs throughout
the United States.
USA CYCLING TRACK TRAINING CENTER-EAST AT THE LEHIGH VALLEY VELODROME
The USA Cycling Track Training Center-East is a United States national
team program based at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome operating under
the not-for-profit corporate structure of the Velodrome Fund, Inc.
As described in the summary above, the USAC TCC-East is one of three
USAC-branded programs in the United States aimed at elite athlete
development and talent identification.
This program is expected to be self-contained and funded using resources
outside of the budgeted income of the Velodrome Fund, Inc. The USAC
TTC-East will be initially structured as two main divisions:
• High Performance. This program is the competition-based element
of the USAC TTC-East and is to include a hierarchy of programming
correlated to age and level of competitiveness of the athlete pool.
Qualification to the program will be defined using objectively defined
performance measures in tandem with the USAC TTC-East staff's experienced
assessment.
An integral component to High Performance is the team-based Scholarship
Athlete Program (SAP). The SAP is a USAC-registered team licensed
to participate in sanctioned cycling events and designed as a turnkey
team operation for qualified members of the USAC TTC-East. Financing
for the SAP is defined within the budget of the USAC TTC-East. This
program will be registered as the "T-Town Express" with
the UCI for 2007-2008 and thus eligible for international competition.
• Athlete Services. This element of the USAC TTC-East will provide
fee-based athlete services, e.g. talent identification, assessment/fitness
testing, non-elite coaching and athlete management, camps/clinics,
and other applicable services to the cycling community.
TIME LINE
Phase I of the USAC TTC-East will provide immediate coaching, logistical,
financial, and team support to select national team sprint athletes
in preparation for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008 in Beijing,
China. Concurrently, planning will begin for the foundation of a junior
(U19) and under 23 (U23) talent identification and development program
intended to groom riders for junior world championship competition
and seamless integration into the elite program.
Project launch is spring 2007.
Phase II includes expansion of the High Performance plan to include
endurance athletes and further development of the SAP to support an
increase in the total number of athletes served by the program. Phase
II will also see the conceptualization and execution of fee-based
athlete services such as camps, clinics, athlete assessment, fitness
testing, and wellness programs.
The long-term goal is the realization of a systematic program that
consistently and predictably identifies and develops athletes capable
of producing international results. A major objective includes the
formation of the SAP as a UCI trade team that will provide the infrastructure
for USAC TTC-East athletes to participate in international competition.
Desired project launch is late 2007 with maturation in six years
(2012 Olympic year)
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