-Hassan Mohammed
By Floyd Christie
It has been 34 years since the inception of the annual ‘Teach Them Young’ cycling programme at the National Park and national cycling coach Hassan Mohammed has labeled this year’s recently-concluded edition of the programme as yet another success.
The programme, which is the brainchild of Mohammed, was initiated in 1977 under his own direction and has seen an increasing number of participants over the years, Mohammed said during an interview with Stabroek Sport at his office on Tuesday.
This year’s programme which began on July 12 and concluded on September 4 captured once again the interest of young cyclists who wish to aspire in the cycling arena as well as their parents.
“It was a much larger contingent participating in the programme, where we had 40 registered individuals and what I’m happy about is that there were a lot of new faces participating and they have a lot of potential,” Mohammed revealed.
“I am very happy with the turnout and the response from some parents, who were very supportive… This was a very good year for me,” Mohammed added.
Mohamed is aware that such an abundance of young cycling talent needs to be harnessed in its prime and channeled into the right avenues. As such he has already scheduled a number of racing events so as to ensure that the young cyclists practice their skills and not let them fall by the wayside.
However, Mohammed observed that not all of the cyclists who take part in the programme continue cycling as they grow older. Some tend to pursue other hobbies and are eventually detached from the sport. Mohammed noted that only approximately 30% of the young cyclists continue in the sport into adulthood.
Nevertheless, he pinpointed that he can “safely say, if not 100%, then 95% of our cycling champions came out of that nursery [the ‘Teach Them Young’ programme]…”
He highlighted that some of these cyclists from the “present day crop” include Alonzo Greaves, Godfrey Pollydore, Junior Niles, Robin Persaud, Geron Williams, Christopher Holder, among others who “came through the ranks from BMX”, and have gone to represent their country in the Caribbean and around the region, where they “performed creditably.”
“All of them have gone on to hold their own in the Caribbean,” Mohammed stated.
Mohamed said he was pleased with the strides that the cyclists who have gone through the programme have made and he attributed this to the fundamentals that the cyclists acquire during their stint in the programme.
Few females
However, he disclosed that the main problem currently facing the programme is the lack of participation from females, since the programme predominantly has male participants.
“The girls are not coming forward, that’s one of the problems,” he emphasized.
He recalled that in the past nine females would participate in various road racing events and cycle races around the National Park but today only three or four female cyclists often partake in these events.
In a positive light, Mohammed observed that the few females riding today who have passed through the programme have a lot of potential, pinpointing Berbician Marica Dick who returned with a bronze medal from the Caribbean Youth Championships held in Aruba August last. Looking ahead, Mohammed stated that the programme will continue to do as its name implies and ‘Teach Them Young’ over the years to come, but he maintained that he “needs a lot of support”.
“This is a nursery that I have here, I am feeding clubs with cyclists if these guys continue, which I know some of them will,” Mohammed noted.
“I need support because this is a developmental programme not only for clubs or the federation, but for the youths, so I need more cooperation from club officials and the federation,” Mohammed added.
Mohammed also expressed gratitude to the sponsors of the event, whose contribution played a key role in making the ‘Teach Them Young’ cycling programme a success.
