Originally Posted by
Dubbayoo
I actually think this is a waste of resources. The sport is too small to focus on kids on the fringe. Inner city kids can't afford racing bikes, have no place to keep them if they could, little access to shops or roads to train on. USA Cycling is much better served going after middle class kids, of whom 10-20% will be minorities anyway. Go to the fish; don't wait for the fish to come to you.
The problem is really getting juniors involved at all, even middle-class kids.
This is an interesting program some friends and teammates are involved in, and some good riders are coming out of it. Since it's NYC its very diverse ethnically, but not expressly designed to be so (though it is aimed at kids who are underserved economically). Since its a velodrome program it takes care of the bike questions (rental bikes, kept at the track).
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_thing...startrack.html
So far as USAC goes, I think the real plan behind the professionalization and internationalization of BMX is to try to create a path from something that's already popular with middle-class kids towards competitive road, track, and MTB as adults (the recent velodrome proposals I've seen have tended to include neighboring BMX parks, for instance).