The Future Of British Riders

[771neil]

Hi everyone is saying that bomber winning on saturday will boost british speedway which i hope it does, but we are not producing the amount of british talent for future wc gps even just league riders. My lad is 13 and rides a 250 jawa and looks like he might make it, but he only gets 6 minutes on a track per week if hes lucky and we do travel far and wide for those rides,yet i m told in other countrys kids are riding every day in some cases so how can we compete with that. In other sports they real try there best for the youngsters but bspa do very little,i know peter oakes is trying but think about time they got a national training track.

[uncle albert]

Hi everyone is saying that bomber winning on saturday will boost british speedway which i hope it does, but we are not producing the amount of british talent for future wc gps even just league riders. My lad is 13 and rides a 250 jawa and looks like he might make it, but he only gets 6 minutes on a track per week if hes lucky and we do travel far and wide for those rides,yet i m told in other countrys kids are riding every day in some cases so how can we compete with that. In other sports they real try there best for the youngsters but bspa do very little,i know peter oakes is trying but think about time they got a national training track.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

it's unlikely that bombers win on saturday will help matters any in respect of a plan for a national training facility. however now that he is a national hero in cornwall he could use his elevated profile to embarass the council in cornwall into allowing a track to be built for league racing. he will no doubt be getting interviewed by national papers and tv so it would be quite easy to put them on the spot by mentioning the fact that although he is a proud cornishman there are no tracks in cornwall where he can be seen by his supporters in his own county doing what he's famous for!!

[Sir Jasper]

Agreed 771neil, our kids are so far behind or have traditionally come through grasstrack, which imo although is although better than nothing is not a patch on riding the amount of times other countries kids do.

 

Another valid point often missed is that the kids usually have to race on tracks built for 500 cc bikes, which imo makes as much sense as sticking kids on a full size football pitch.

Edited July 2, 2007 by Sir Jasper

[Shalerash]

Hi everyone is saying that bomber winning on saturday will boost british speedway which i hope it does, but we are not producing the amount of british talent for future wc gps even just league riders. My lad is 13 and rides a 250 jawa and looks like he might make it, but he only gets 6 minutes on a track per week if hes lucky and we do travel far and wide for those rides,yet i m told in other countrys kids are riding every day in some cases so how can we compete with that. In other sports they real try there best for the youngsters but bspa do very little,i know peter oakes is trying but think about time they got a national training track.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This has been a problem for a long time, as you say juniors seem to be an after thought, i can remember trying to get after meeting rides only for the track to run out of time etc and you don't turn a wheel,

there are not many regular training facilitys, where as in the mid 70's when i first started watching as a kid, localy to where i lived there were regular training schools at Belle Vue, Crewe, Ellesmere Port and Sheffield,

it's no good traveling the country hoping to get 10 minutes after the meeting if your lucky, this is an issue that needs dealing with,

then promoters have the cheek to say there's no british talent or forigners are too expensive ?, does'nt take a rocket scientist ah !.

[speedibee]

Hi everyone is saying that bomber winning on saturday will boost british speedway which i hope it does, but we are not producing the amount of british talent for future wc gps even just league riders. My lad is 13 and rides a 250 jawa and looks like he might make it, but he only gets 6 minutes on a track per week if hes lucky and we do travel far and wide for those rides,yet i m told in other countrys kids are riding every day in some cases so how can we compete with that. In other sports they real try there best for the youngsters but bspa do very little,i know peter oakes is trying but think about time they got a national training track.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

who will pay for this track? the bspa is made up of individual promoters running teams as small businesses each of them will only spend money for their own benefit and will not concern their selves with the sport as a whole . why would they invest money in kids in the uk when there are plenty of riders trained abroad at no cost to themselves. if your son is riding you will no doubt have had to buy him a licence and permit to do so from the acu what do they do for british speedway ? very little from what i can see and the fim are worse at cardiff at the weekend their will have been loads of representatives of both the acu and fim getting vip treatment acccomodation for them and their families ,travelling expenses and what do they do for speedway? it's time to get rid of the acu/fim and start to control speedway by speedway . amateur clubs like southern track riders and abc are the best hope we have for getting something organised as far as an overall training policy is concerned both clubs are run by people who are interested in speedway at grass roots level and not in it for the money

[windsor]

ive got a few mates training and the find it hard to get time on the track.

 

is there mcuh diffrence in grass tracking to speedway.as when i went the other sunday i saw some red hot talented youngsters and they looked fantastic and my very words were 'shame some of these lads dont want to be in speedway'

 

a rider over heard me and he said he wants to but no1 seems to be botherd about getting him on a speedway track to show them what he can do...

 

i felt sorry for the lad

 

(sorry if that sounds pointless) but just feel that it would be great to support some british riders that love the sport

[LBC]

Hi everyone is saying that bomber winning on saturday will boost british speedway which i hope it does, but we are not producing the amount of british talent for future wc gps even just league riders. My lad is 13 and rides a 250 jawa and looks like he might make it, but he only gets 6 minutes on a track per week if hes lucky and we do travel far and wide for those rides,yet i m told in other countrys kids are riding every day in some cases so how can we compete with that. In other sports they real try there best for the youngsters but bspa do very little,i know peter oakes is trying but think about time they got a national training track.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Too right, there needs to be more training tracks, i can understand some clubs not having the room or available time to build a track or allow training on there main tracks but there should be more done. I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to build training tracks around the country, i don't suppose there would be half the planning restrictions as there would be if you were building a track to host race meetings. The bspa need to promote speedway to youngsters & get them involved, the more young kids wanting to ride speedway would get more families to the tracks, most kids being a speedway rider is just a dream unless you have rich parents willing to drive the lenth of the country for 20 laps once a week. Give someone a unicycle & let them practice 4minuites per week...... whats the chance of becoming a world class performer ????? not much

[iris123]

Agreed 771neil, our kids are so far behind or have traditionally come through grasstrack, which imo although is although better than nothing is not a patch on riding the amount of times other countries kids do.

 

Another valid point often missed is that the kids usually have to race on tracks built for 500 cc bikes, which imo makes as much sense as sticking kids on a full size football pitch.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good points.I know when i talked to Morten Risager last year when he came back from his injury.He told me he had been practising pretty well every day for two weeks.That is how much track time is available to Danish kids if they have the time and money.That is why i laugh a bit at people who say foreign riders come over to Britain and we train them up.Most of the Danish riders who come over at 17 or 18 have maybe 10 years of speedway behind them at that stage.

Also the track size makes a hell of a difference in learning the skills needed to be a good speedway rider.At some places they have 3 different tracks for the various age groups.I can compare the junior scene in Germany with Denmark.In Germany they mostly have the juniors(around the 8 year old mark)out on their 50cc bikes going round a 300m track!There is practically no racing involved,just kids going round a track on a bike.What they are learning is more usefull in Longtrack racing if anything.When you see the same age group on a small Danish track,these youngsters are racing.They are in close proximity to their opponent and their whole outlook and style is speedway racing on small bikes.A world of difference and it shows when they get older.Then by the time they are 12 or 13 and get on the 80cc bikes,well i would recommend to anyone who has the chance to go to one of these meetings.It really is mind blowing the skill these youngsters have at such a young age.It is no wonder that Denmark won the SWC + the U21 SWC last year.And there are more great youngsters coming through

[771neil]

Well you all got my point, to answer one points wasn t X amount of sky money surpose to be for the development of young talent ? were s that money gone also i think planning permission would be easier cause no crowd =no parking issues plus it could be run in th day when most are at work.Anyway for once everyone agrees with me but does anyone know how i can start this crussade as i have the time and energy but not a clue about how to do something about it(not doing this just for my lad but for british speedway)

[Shalerash]

Also i think maybe one of the problems is landlords, years ago when speedway was getting good crowds and making money they should have bought the stadiums/tracks and owned them, instead the older promoters took the money and run, o.k. this may not be the case with some, but i wonder how many tried ?, we now would'nt be in a position where landlords pull all the strings telling promoters when they can run etc.

[LBC]

Well you all got my point, to answer one points wasn t X amount of sky money surpose to be for the development of young talent ? were s that money gone also i think planning permission would be easier cause no crowd =no parking issues plus it could be run in th day when most are at work.Anyway for once everyone agrees with me but does anyone know how i can start this crussade as i have the time and energy but not a clue about how to do something about it(not doing this just for my lad but for british speedway)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

I think a good place to start would be to look at local buisnesses look at the premasis they have & see if thwere is any vacant land attatched, speak to as many people about it as possible, also go & speak to any local farmers & see if they have any spare feilds, there's loads of farmers who have feilds that they can't do anything with & a bit of extra income ;letting kids rip round there would be proberbly gratefull, there's loads of motocross meetings every week around the country all on farmers land, all you need is a corner of a field & a few tonns of shale, could prob get away with tyre packed dirt. it doesnt need to be glamouress just something to get the kids a bit of bike time. If you want to make a name for yourself in the speedway world i think cracking the training situation would do it.

[771neil]

thanks lbc i was thinking of that but was thinking more about trying to also put pressure on the powers that be , but would like to point out i m not after making a name for myself(tried that as a rider only made it to premier reserve)

[speedibee]

thanks lbc i was thinking of that but was thinking more about trying to also put pressure on the powers that be , but would like to point out i m not after making a name for myself(tried that as a rider only made it to premier reserve)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

waste of time trying to get the powers that be to do anything unless theres a profit in it ,there are loads of people throughout the country who would like to see better facilities for practise .if someone was to get all the interested parties together and form a united front maybe someting could be done .and at the moment there are loads of people who would be willing to join forces they just need a catalyst .maybe thats what you could do ?use the forum to bring all the interested parties together .you may be surprised what skills and assistance are out there just waiting for someone like you to co-ordinate them i have time and energy for this project if you have the money!!!!

[iris123]

You might like to get in contact with one of our members.Peter S.His son is currently going through the junior ranks in Denmark.I think he has quite a bit of knowledge of the junior scene in Denmark.And apparently it was through the organisation and dedication of parents that got most of it up and running,not through the authorities

[speedibee]

You might like to get in contact with one of our members.Peter S.His son is currently going through the junior ranks in Denmark.I think he has quite a bit of knowledge of the junior scene in Denmark.And apparently it was through the organisation and dedication of parents that got most of it up and running,not through the authorities

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

in denmark local councils are probably not as difficult to work with as they are here ,tell them you want a football facility thats different though

[iris123]

in denmark local councils are probably not as difficult to work with as they are here ,tell them you want a football facility thats different though

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe.All i am saying is have a chat with the guy and see if there is anything of interest in what he says

[speedibee]

Maybe.All i am saying is have a chat with the guy and see if there is anything of interest in what he says

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

talk to the guy of course but what may be of help in denmark might not be so useful here . you must know how blinkered our councils are if it's not concerning football. good luck to the guy talk to absolutely any body if it will help to find another chris harris eh!!

[Vince]

I don't think it is quite as simple as some of you seem to believe. For sure Motocross tracks are run in a farmers field but they are temporary so don't need planning permission if the site is only used a few times a year. I don't know what the current rate is but about 5 years ago it was around £500 for the day. As soon as you bring shale in you will need to get planning permission - you can expect that to take over a year and cost a few quid as well. Then in order to comply with the insurance conditions you will need a safety fence that complies with the regulations - another fair chunk of cash. Don't forget you will then need first aid cover at every training day and there will be lots more conditions laid down by the insurers. Insurance can be a major issue with new ventures expected to lay out the full years premium in advance.

Motocross practice tracks find it worthwhile doing all this because a decent track will get 50 people on a bad day and maybe 300 on a good one. I know of a Speedway training day recently that had less than a half dozen riders and 50 would be a fantastic day.

I think the only practical way would be to try and get one track each in North, South, East and West if possible that has suitable planning permission in place and find a way to finance a practice track within each place that could be open two or three days a week.

Failing that another option might be to push Grasstrack as training for Speedway as you could then run the temporary tracks in farmers fields with a lot less outlay. You would still be looking at several thousands of pounds investment though.

[771neil]

Thanks for the replys they all have good points and if any people out there have and can pass on names numbers e mails of people who can help it would be a help. I don t want to go down the grass route and unfortunatly i don t have pots of cash sponsoring my lad takes up most of my money.But the idea of tracks around the country sounds good will start looking into that one.

[Sabres]

A long shot here. Some time ago I saw somewhere (it may have been here on the Forum) pictures of the derelict track at Berrington Lough (Berwick). Who owns that land, would it be possible to have a very basic facility there, as I recall, it appeared miles from anywhere. The base is obviously still there. A couple of working weekends may be able to give it some sort of usefulness in the training of youngsters.

Are there any derelict running tracks?

How about former airfields, is there a corner of the site which could be put to good use? If there was a half decent runway it could even be used to give basic training for conventional motorcycling prior to using the roads.

Any cash return on unused land may be looked on favourably by the landowner if a sensible proposition was prepared.

Perhaps speedway should put the case to the relevant authorities about giving a facility for younsters, to take them off the street. Being trained properly in any sporting discipline is far better than leaving them to their own devices, is there a council out there who would be prepared to listen to a well prepared and structured proposition? I am sure not all councils are totally anti motorcycling, especially if responsible training and education was involved.

 

Sabres