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Speedway Apprenticeships


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It's been a fair few years since Poultec started their speedway apprenticeship programme.

Can anyone list out the riders who have benefited from it, and which new faces to the sport have been introduced by way of this scheme, that may otherwise not have become speedway riders?

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They were widely called apprenticeships but they were not apprenticeships in the official use of the word. You won't find a speedway apprenticeship on the government website, for example.  They were really diplomas in speedway business skills. Yes, they learned a bit on track but the whole purpose was to help the youngsters with running their own business - not how to ride a speedway bike fast.

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On 1/22/2022 at 10:02 PM, uk_martin said:

It's been a fair few years since Poultec started their speedway apprenticeship programme.

Can anyone list out the riders who have benefited from it, and which new faces to the sport have been introduced by way of this scheme, that may otherwise not have become speedway riders?

Think you will discover that only those that were already riding speedway took part in the scheme.

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On 1/23/2022 at 8:52 PM, Racin Jason 72 said:

Be very interesting to know. Be a good article for the speedway star to cover 

Are you kidding? SS doing "investigative" journalism??? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

5 hours ago, Fortythirtyeight said:

Think you will discover that only those that were already riding speedway took part in the scheme.

Yeah, but who? And how did their lives / careers improve as a result?  And why the past tense? Is there nobody left on the scheme now?

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I seem to remember that it covered nutrition, fitness and mechanical knowledge too. James Shanes was definitely one of them, there were a (the?)  group of lads who were on the course at Lynn every Wednesday evening but this was a few seasons ago and I can't recall any of the others.

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16 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

I seem to remember that it covered nutrition, fitness and mechanical knowledge too. James Shanes was definitely one of them, there were a (the?)  group of lads who were on the course at Lynn every Wednesday evening but this was a few seasons ago and I can't recall any of the others.

Yes you are right about what the course covered. It is a pity that someone called it an apprenticeship when it wasn't. It gave people totally the wrong impression. Don't get me wrong, I think what Poultec did was excellent and very valuable for the riders but it was never intended as an entry-point for young speedway riders; more a way of teaching the lads business, fitness etc. But it was never - and wasn't intended to be - an apprenticeship. Eastbourne wrote about Tom Brennan and Jason Edwards at Poultec in one of their flying high magazines last winter. 

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Poultec is a very successful company that primarily deals with training and apprenticeships, so the idea was to give the young riders all about running their business, accounts etc, as well as diet and fitness, and they have a well equipped workshop for learning about the mechanical side of things including making their own parts.

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_womble/albums/72157657413955128

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