I WANT TO RIDE
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how many student athletes are registered in the NICA Pit Zone in the state of Arkansas
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Teams across the state of Arkansas......and growing!
Ride with NICA
Here in Arkansas, there are a lot of people who love to ride bikes, and each one of them does it for their own reason. Maybe it’s to stay healthy, or to build confidence, or simply to have fun. Either way, Arkansas NICA is an amazing opportunity to connect students in grades 6-12 who share a passion for riding bikes. Some teams are "piloting" 5th grade inclusion. If you have an interested 5th grader, please contact your prospective teams Head Coach to see if they are one of the teams approved for 5th grade inclusion. With teams across the state, we help our student athletes discover what makes them excited about riding, while teaching them skills for biking and the world beyond in a safe, encouraging environment.
NICA athletes have the opportunity to join other students in statewide races, but that’s not everything NICA has to offer. While we think racing is important for our athletes — to train for something, to gain the confidence that comes with achieving goals, to foster team spirit — we also have adventure rides, trail stewardship sessions, as well as GRiT and other programs for those students who are just here to have fun on bikes.
Curious what NICA is like?
Check out some videos of NICA to see how much fun we have on bikes!
how do i get started?
Want to ride with a NICA team? It's easy as 5 steps!
Connect with a Team
Is there a team at your school? Or in your community? Check our list here to find out! If there is, send the coach an email to connect! They will tell you when practice is and how to connect with the team. If there isn't a team, fill out the contact form at the bottom of the page and we can see what we can do about starting a team in your area.
Try it Out
You can attend one practice to try it out before signing up for NICA. Be sure to fill out this online waiver before you come!
Get Set up
To get started you'll need a bike, helmet and some comfortable clothes. The head coach of your team can help guide you. We also have a league bike loaner and financial aid program.
Sign Up on the Pit Zone
The Pit Zone is our registration system.
Arkansas has done some deep analysis of our own finances and fees, and we are committed to our 2025 Program Fee structure to position ourselves to be healthy and sustainable while allowing for our above and beyond programs, like GRiT, Loaner Bike, Outreach and Teen Trail Corps in addition to our league scholarships, to grow with us. Our goals are to provide a high value experience for the cost, especially as compared to other youth programs, to keep the costs to coaches and volunteers as low as possible, and to make sure we are able to provide access to our league to as many kids as possible, including families in underserved communities. As an example, ALL new leagues are adopting this model in year one.
For the 2025 season, AR NICA fees are: (note these are not increases, simply one time program fees)
For the student-athlete: A single flat fee of $350 covers the full season of participation, including league registration, access to highly trained and dedicated coaches, insurance coverage, preseason events, and 5 AR NICA events in the Fall. Every student-athlete registered by August 10th will be issued a personalized number plate and they do NOT need to register separately for events or races.
Early Bird Pricing: If athletes are registered prior to August 10th each season, they will only pay $335.00 This is a 15.00 discount on the season.
Financial aid is available for any of the fees. Please click the Financial Aid tab on our website to learn more. HERE
COME TO NICA EVENTS REGULARLY!
Come ride with us!
Arkansas NICA Teams
Blue Markers are 2021 Teams.
Purple Markers are 2021 Developing Teams.
Already on A NICA Team?
Racing
One of the great things about a NICA League, which separates us from other youth cycling development programs, is we produce our own youth-specific events. This means we pick out race venues and work directly with landowners and managers to produce the highest quality youth development racecourses and events. The student-athletes get a stage of their own, away from adult competitions, and we strive for safety and fun above all other factors.
The Arkansas League will produce 1 Individual Time Trial, 2 Plains Regional events, 2 Plateau Regional events and a full Mid-Season Classic and State Championship for a total of 7races in the fall of 2025 in Arkansas.
But wait, there is more to NICA than just Racing!
Check out all the other things that go on with NICA across the state of Arkansas!
NICA Adventure
NICA Adventure
If racing isn't your thing, thats ok! Check out the NICA Adventure series!
Local Dirt
Local Dirt: GETTING MORE KIDS RIDING IN THE DIRT MORE OFTEN
Local Dirt is like a baseball game. Think about little league baseball, where local games are organized between coaches and teams at the town’s ballfields vs. Little League World Series hosted by Little League Baseball at the Williamsport fields.
Local Dirt is like the baseball game and the NICA Races are like the LIttle League World Series!
Grit
GRiT
Currently, girls represent 20% of NICA’s overall national student-athlete participation. NICA GRiT (Girls Riding Together) seeks to increase that number significantly over the next five years. The GRiT Program is NICA’s effort to recruit and retain more girls and female coaches in NICA programs.
GRiT events are the 3rd Saturday of every month from April - August. There will also be a GRiT event at each of the NICA races. See you there!
Service Leadership
Service leadership
We don't just ride trails, we take care of them too!
