Limburg’s integration into the country’s youth team. From January 2024, PMC Cycling from Zonhoven and the Zelem cycling team will be combined into one team. “The PMC Cycling name will continue to exist,” confirms Robbie Cox, head of the Zelem Cycling Team, which has begun the search for a partner.
Hitch the cart
From January 2024, the PMC Cycling Zonhoven cycling team will have around 100 riders, because the Zelem cycling team will be integrated into the club. This was necessary, because both teams faced the same problems. Robbie Cox, president and coach of Team Xelim, provides explanations.
“It’s a governance issue,” Cox explains. “In 2020, we started a recreational club in Zelem and we had 4 members. We focus on road, field and mountain bike. This year we have increased to 20 members and we also have 6 guys ready to compete. But we are facing the same problem as many other teams. It is difficult “It is very important to find a decent board of directors and a suitable budget. We would rather not allow our project to simply die.”
“A non-profit organization must legally have 3 board members, but nowadays finding volunteer people is a major achievement,” continues the Zelem native. “Even though they are helping out of their own free will, their names are on the platform. This means that their efforts will become permanent and most people don’t want that. Through conversations with Sonhoven’s colleagues, we discovered that they have similar problems. PMC Cycling has been around for some time It’s also a bigger club, so we’re happy that we can jump on our bandwagon with them.
Trainings and competitions
The merger with PMC Cycling from Zonhoven gives both teams even more strength. “Beginning in 2024, the team will consist of about 100 riders, including about 30 competitors in the junior, aspiring and newcomer categories,” says Cox. “This makes it more interesting for potential future sponsors to invest, simply because they get greater visibility in competitions. Our club in Xillem was too small for that. We were too small to grow, too big to stay small.”
“We have also made a number of training-related agreements,” says the enthusiastic coach, who will also be a member of the board of directors. “We will train once a month in Sonhoven and once a month in Zelem. The other Wednesday afternoons, we continue to work separately in our municipality. This gives both teams the opportunity to get to know the new (field) roads and forests. We also have the opportunity to practice on the track “Permanent BMX in Zonhoven. This of course provides additional options.”
“And it goes further than that,” says Cox. “This merger also gives us the opportunity to participate in certain races that we could not do before. For example, I am talking about the 3-day road race in Tsinderlo, Bale and Hamm, specifically for the aspirants. This is a nice learning process, including a time trial. Our youth can only benefit from this.”
More future
As if it were a symbolic date, PMC Cycling organizes cyclocross on January 14, 2024 in Zonhoven. It will be the first match in which the two youth teams will play together. It will be the beginning of a successful cooperation. “The budget for 2024 has been finalized and we also know which members will be competing in the competitions,” Cox continues. “In this regard, there is not much scope to recruit more members. We will look further at how things will continue in 2025. We hope that we still have room to expand further, but of course it also depends on the budgets available.
“What ambitions do we start with? That remains the main focus,” answers the new PMC Cycling board member. “We will be actively working with rookies and aspirants as well as some young people who are now newcomers. The motto is “Nothing required, everything allowed.” We do not want to comment on the results. At our club in Zelem we had one rider win regularly, thus taking some pressure off the others. With a larger team, this stress can decrease somewhat.
“It’s especially important that young people enjoy cycling. We want them to grow up to be young people. If someone is striving for better results, we can of course be proud of that,” concludes Robbie Cox.
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