One Rocky Mountain all new junior squad !

It’s with great pleasure that today we launch the next stage in the evolution of the One Rocky Mountain Racing team, The One Rocky Mountain Junior Development Program.

After 2 very successful years of working with current Junior National Overall Champion, and Australian DH Jr team representative, Ben Hill, we have applied what has been learnt to create a new program giving two junior riders the chance at state, national and one day international glory.

We are very excited to welcome Darcy Coutts, a U17 rider, and Mitchell Tamanika, a U15 rider, to the program riding the Rocky Mountain Flatline in our new 2015 team look.

Darcy Coutts comes from a family of Downhillers with brothers Kyle and Damon both Elite level racers, father Graham a regular podium placer in Super Masters, and sister Anthea having a go and racing local club races this year. Representing Ballarat’s Club Mud, Darcy’s incredibly gifted talent is well known amongst the community and he has worked tirelessly with his mentors on getting ready for an opportunity like this.

Mitchell Tamanika is fairly new to the sport, only riding downhill for the past 3 years. The oldest of 3 brothers, Mitchell followed his father into the sport and became instantly hooked. Mitchell’s hard work and dedication to get better has developed him a great platform in which to grow from, and grown he has. Also representing Ballarat’s Club Mud, Mitchell tasted a podium at one of the club races, and this furthered his drive to find glory on the state and national stages.

What makes these boys stand out for us is there handwork and dedication in looking for ways to improve their riding whilst working on overall fitness and mental attitude to racing. Darcy’s exploration in to BMX (both park and racing) has brought about a new level of concentration and smoothness to his riding, whilst Mitchell gets out on his trail bike most nights after school putting in the work and applying scenarios to how he will at races.

Over the course of the season our Junior Program consists around setting goals both on and off track, and rewarding them through a incentive program based on achieving these goals that they are responsible for setting out. Along with support via our sponsors and partnerships, the boys will also be mentored by the Elite riders of the team who can give insight into all aspects of racing, as we as a team look for great results this season and onward.

As both of these boys develop we very much look forward to being there supporting them all the way, and maybe we’ll some green and gold lines on their chest in the very near future.

Lastly, we thank all our fantastic sponsors who have been very positive in the assistance of bringing the program together. Rocky Mountain Australia, One Industries Australia, Mountain Bikes Direct, Swift Supplements, Breese High Performance, Jet Black, Stans NoTubes, Renthal Cycling, Schwalbe Australia and goggle sponsor for the Juniors Ride 100% Goggles.

James Tamanika – Program Coordinator

Photo Credit: Jason Heidrich Photography