The Spur Schools Mountain Biking League is about introducing more learners to bike and encouraging South African schools to adopt mountain biking as an official sport.
Spur Steak Ranches, the founding sponsor of the Spur Schools MTB League, has invested tremendously into the league and into schools mountain biking as a whole over the years. Now in its 12th year, we continue to see positive annual growth of entries, reaching 30% with 19 300 entries last year.
The programme runs in all provinces hosting four to six race events per province between April and September. Entered school teams gain points in order to qualify for the Spur Schools MTB League finals, which are held at Wagpos High School. Recently, primary schools have been introduced into the race categories as a feeder system and we foresee primary school entries surpassing high school entries.
Our main objective is to get kids on bikes, and the nature of the events are mass participation related so that teams represent their schools. The family support we have seen at our events is incredible and we know how important it is for the riders that take part in the Spur Schools MTB league.
Schools cycling is formalised under Schools Cycling South Africa (SCSA), a statutory body and an associate member of Cycling South Africa. A league such as this one requires a detailed ruleset to ensure free and fair competition and participation, and it is here that affiliation to the national body is key. Furthermore, a young rider’s participation path leads him/her straight to Olympic participation via Cycling South Africa, emphasising the importance of this link.
The Spur Schools MTB League sources brands to be a part of this growing programme, and we are proud to announce that we will welcome various partners to the league this year including Signal Bikes, SRAM, Anatomic Sportswear, Uvex sports, Cyclesure, Falke, Trek Bicycle SA, Specialized Bicycles and Olympic International Footwear.
Visit the Spur MTB League website.