News: California High School MTB Leagues Expand

If you're fortunate enough to grow up in the birthplace of the fat tire, the San Francisco Bay Area, then high school mountain biking is already an established fact of life – as of this year, every high school in Marin County has a cross-country racing team. And with the NorCal high school league now in its eighth year, a new league is being set up in Southern California.

The new SoCal Interscholastic Cycling League is forming high school teams now, and racing will commence in March 2009, at the same time that the NorCal league starts its races. The SoCal league's kick-off fundraising event will be held this Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Ca Del Sole Italian Restaurant near Burbank. The $125-a-plate benefit dinner will feature celebrity cycling speakers and a silent auction. Mountain bike pioneer Gary Fisher will be the emcee, while current BMC and former Discovery Channel professional racer Tony Cruz will be the guest of honor.

For its part, the NorCal league is undergoing unprecedented growth, says Austin McInerny, president of the NorCal league's board and coach of the Berkeley High School team. But the new SoCal league has already garnered so much interest that some feel the two might be on equal footing before too long.

As McInerny explains, the success of these two leagues isn't just a function of participation, but of funding. In years past, the NorCal league has relied on small donations and grants, often of only a few thousand dollars. But this year, it has received three tremendous investments – two of which will help propel the SoCal counterpart into existence.

The first funding influx came from a three-day fundraiser the league held in Marin County. Consisting of a cocktail party, a benefit dinner with 2008 Tour de California winner Levi Leipheimer and a massive group road ride, the drive raised over $50,000 for the league and drew out hundreds of local enthusiasts, including patron saints Joe Breeze and Tom Ritchey. In an economic environment in which purse strings are being tightened across the board, such generosity is essential to facilitate the next couple of years of league operation.

The second funding boon came from the newly created Easton Sports Development Fund, a personal initiative of SoCal native Jim Easton, president and chairman of Easton Sports, designed to give back to the interscholastic sporting community. Though the amount of the donation is undisclosed, McInerny says it is significant enough to enable the new SoCal league to hire three full-time staff members, giving the program a tremendous jump-start. Easton's son-in-law, avid mountain biker Quintin Easton, coordinated the funding and championed the new SoCal league, and as such is its founding president. Matt Fritzinger, the NorCal league's founder and director, will serve as the SoCal league's executive director as well. The NorCal league has seven full-time staff.