CLUB OF THE YEAR FALKIRK JUNIOR BIKE CLUB

An aim to instil a love of cycling into its members so that it becomes part of their lives has one Scottish club reaping the rewards

- Simon Richardson

Five years ago Fraser Johnston, frustrated by the lack of clubs available for young riders to join, decided to do something about it. He set up the Falkirk Junior Bike Club and organised its first session at a local school. “There was one aim for the session,” he tells us. “For the kids to want to come back the following week, it had to be fun.”

Fifteen riders turned up. He can’t remember exactly how many of those came back the next week, but the club now has 150 members, another 150 on the waiting list and get roughly three or four enquiries a week from prospective members. “We could hold sessions every day of the week,” Johnston explains. “The demand is there. We just need the volunteers.”

We paid a visit to Falkirk in late November to see for ourselves how a club in a town in central Scotland could do what many established clubs struggle to do and attract so many young riders. What we found was a club whose youth focus across the board and social outreach has borne incredible results.

Having outgrown two previous venues, the FJBC now uses Falkirk’s Callendar Park for its regular Saturday and midweek sessions. All of these are delivered by their team of coaches who are themselves teenagers.

And this perhaps is the secret to their success. Ranging from 14 to 18 these coaches – all who have done their foundation courses – are closer in age to the riders and are therefore able to relate to them. “Right, listen up,” we hear one of them shout. And he immediately has everyone’s attention. It’s like they’re learning from their mates, not from a figure of authority, their parents or a teacher.