By Marisa Dawson, Courtesy Photos by Empty Space Studios & Will Ramsey

A growing group of Bennington students will soon be hitting the trails as the Nebraska Interscholastic Cycling League begins its seventh season of providing young athletes with an opportunity to compete, build confidence and become part of a team, no tryouts or bench required.

The Bennington composite mountain biking team will hold its first event of the season Sunday, September 6, at Swanson Park in Bellevue. The event will serve as a time trial and “soft opening” for the season, with each athlete completing one lap.

League Director Bree Campbell said the time trial gives organizers an opportunity to see how returning and new athletes match up before placing them into appropriate racing categories.

The first official race of the season will follow September 13, also at Swanson Park, where more than 300 student-athletes from across Nebraska are expected to compete.

The Nebraska Interscholastic Cycling League, which began in 2020, is now entering its seventh season. The league serves students in fifth through 12th grade and focuses on creating opportunities for young people of all ability levels to participate in mountain biking.

“Our official mission is to build strong minds, bodies, character and communities through cycling,” Campbell said.

While the organization operates in the youth sports arena, Campbell said its approach is intentionally student-centered.

“We are focused on getting kids the opportunity to be outside and active and part of a team without the pressure and the concerns about having to try out and then also getting benched or not getting enough play time,” she said.

That approach is especially important as students get older, Campbell said, when athletic opportunities can become increasingly competitive.

The league operates only during the fall season, allowing athletes to participate in other activities throughout the year. Campbell said the organization also works to push back against early sports specialization and the burnout that can come with it.

“The number one reason why kids quit sports is because it’s no longer fun,” Campbell said. “So that is where we are trying to make sure that we keep the fun in sports and we give kids that place to be.”

The Bennington composite team was started three years ago by Head Coach Brandon Crow. What began with approximately eight athletes has grown to nearly 20 riders this season.

The team is open to students in fifth through 12th grade who attend Bennington Public Schools, as well as homeschooled students living within the district’s boundaries.

According to Campbell, the roster includes athletes with a wide range of experience and goals.

“He has kids that are super competitive, but he also has kids that are just there to have fun,” Campbell said. 

Crow is also a coach supporter for the Nebraska Interscholastic Cycling League, helping train other coaches in how to coach mountain biking.

Bennington riders primarily practice on the north side of Tranquility Park and around Cunningham Lake, with some practices also taking place in Blair at Black Elk Park. When dirt trails are too muddy, the team can also use paved trails at Cunningham.

While Bennington does not currently have designated mountain biking trails, Campbell said new mountain bike-specific trails are expected to be built at Cunningham Lake in the coming years.

Teams typically practice one or two times per week. Practices often begin with a group discussion about the day’s objectives and bike safety checks before athletes work on specific skills and finish with a trail ride. Teams then come back together to reflect on the practice.

For students who may be interested but unsure whether mountain biking is right for them, the league offers an opportunity to give it a try before committing.

Kids can participate in up to three practices for free with a signed liability waiver, and the league also maintains a fleet of loaner bikes available to registered athletes.

“We have a fleet of loaner bikes available to any registered athletes,” Campbell said. “And we have a variety of sizes.”

Students who need a bike can borrow one for a weekend or, if needed, for the entire season. The league also offers scholarships to help ensure that finances do not prevent a student from participating.

“If the kid needs it, we have never had to say no and we never want to,” Campbell said.

Keeping the sport accessible is a major focus for the nonprofit organization.

Campbell said it costs the league approximately $1,100 per athlete to operate while registration costs are around $360 per student. Donations and grants help make up the difference and support scholarships, equipment and other resources.

The goal, she said, is to remove as many barriers as possible.

“We know that the power of belonging, we know the power of being active, it improves mental health, it improves self confidence, it gives kids opportunities that they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Campbell said. “That makes it completely worth it to lower every barrier because we want every kid who wants to participate to be able to.”

The league also includes programs designed to support female athletes and coaches, encourage experiential learning and give students opportunities to help care for the trails they ride.

Through its Teen Trail Corps program, teams and coaches volunteer their time maintaining and conserving natural-surface trails. So far in 2026, Campbell said league participants have already logged approximately 760 hours of trail work, building toward last year’s total of more than 2,000 volunteer hours.

The September 13 event at Swanson Park will be the first of five races or race events on the league’s fall schedule, with competitions generally taking place every two weeks through October. Racing will begin around 8:45 a.m. with middle school boys, followed by middle school girls, high school girls and high school boys.

The weekend will also include a race clinic, where students can practice skills such as starting a race, riding near other competitors and managing the mental side of competition. Campbell said approximately 40 students had already registered for the clinic.

The $10 registration fee for the clinic will be donated to the Jeanette Hunt Animal Shelter in Blair, with adoptable dogs also expected to be at the event.

Campbell hopes community members will come out to Swanson Park to support the riders, including Bennington’s growing team.

While racing can be competitive, Campbell said the organization’s definition of success extends far beyond a podium finish.

Her hope is that every athlete leaves with a sense of accomplishment.

“I want them to be able to leave a practice or [race] and say, I did that,” she said. “I want them to have that experience, that feeling of confidence that ‘I wasn’t able to do that before, but now I can.’”

For Campbell, that growth can happen in small but meaningful ways, whether a student conquers a difficult trail feature, finishes a lap for the first time or discovers that they are capable of more than they initially believed.

“And because I know that I can do that, then the next thing that I can’t do right now, I know that if I just keep working on it, I can eventually do it,” she said.

The season will conclude with the league’s regular races in October, followed by an opportunity for athletes to travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for a Central Regional race during the first weekend of November.

For students interested in joining the Bennington composite team, registration remains open throughout the season, with athletes able to sign up as late as the week of the final race. More information, including team contacts, is available through the Nebraska Interscholastic Cycling League: https://nebraskamtb.org