Victoria's Horsham Motorcycle club have run the innagrual Academy of MotoX which was aimed at teaching kids new to riding how to do it safely in all conditions.
The Academy ran over a five month period with the aim to slowly increase the interest of the junior riders culminating in them having their kick start book signed off and being able to take the next step of going racing, if they choose, or simply how the ride a motorbike safely.
By spreading out the Academy the club made it cost effective for the family's which in turn gave the kids the chance to appreciate the motocross side of motorbike riding with the club hoping they would get the bug and want to continue riding at the Horsham track.
Club Coach Merv Williams said, "The Academy has more people already wanting to be involved in the next one, simply from the word of mouth."
"To see the same kids riding around after completing the course, gave all involved a sense of achievement. Not only are the kids confident but also the parents confident in their child's riding ability," Williams added.
It all came about, after a very successful come and try day, that was advertised with an accredited coach available, it was then that Ken Watts and Merv Williams, put their heads together and came up with the Academy of MotoX concept.
"We were shocked at the response, with 26 riders signing up, of course we had to break them into 3 groups, according to age and competency," Williams added.
"We tried to keep it as simple as possible, with lots of track/ride time in the day, not only did we give these kids a great confidence boost and improve there rider skill and knowledge, but also picked up thirty lus new members for our club in one swoop. To save the bourdon of big outlay to the family, we run it using a free Junior coaching permit, and charged $15 per rider for each day, the most cost being at the beginning to join the club, of course for those that decide to continue, they will have the extra outlay of applying for a race or recreation license.
"The way things are looking, we will have to run two maybe three next year, we are currently looking into doing a Wednesday evening Academy through daylight savings, we are also deciding on whether to run a Saturday and Sunday once a month next year, to enable us to cater for the word of mouth demand.
"We have been inundated with calls from parents wanting to sign their child up, also from other clubs wanting to know how we run the Academy, both myself and Ken Watts, will be more than happy to help any club set up there own Academy," Williams concluded.
Special thanks to Moss Institute, Irwin Motors, Wimmera Motorcycle CO & Drift 83
Main Photo: Horsham's Academy of MotoX was a great success
