Annoucements

2009 REAL AUSSIE KIDS TEAM LINE UP ANNOUNCED

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:15:13 GMT

Real Aussie Kids Cycling announced their 2009 Team Line up this week, which includes riders from NSW, QLD and Victoria.

“We wanted to concentrate on bringing through younger riders this year as a number of our 2008 move out of the team and into the senior ranks”, said Team Principle, David Morton. “We were inundated with applications from all around Australia, which made the selection process very difficult”, he said.

Real Aussie Kids (RAK) does not necessarily recruit riders performing at the highest level in the sport, rather they identify riders who display potential, as well as other attributes outside the sport and would benefit from a structured team environment. After RAK’s unprecedented success in 2008 where four members represented Australia at the Junior World Championships and in Canada, collecting three gold and two silver medals, RAK is concentrating on rider development over the coming year.

RAK continues to be proudly supported by major sponsors Drapac Porsche Cycling, Rydges Hotels & Resorts, Limar & Rebel Sport. The new team will debut this weekend at the Cronulla Criteriums.

2009 REAL AUSSIE KIDS TEAM LINE UP:

MATT CONNELLY (2^nd Yr U19)

2009 will be Matt’s second year with RAK, and he is looking to build on the impressive performances he had in Australia, the US and Canada this year. Matt was selected in the2008 Australian Junior Men’s Reserve Team which toured in Canada in July. He also won the Colorado Junior Hillclimb Championship and placed 4^th in the Australian Road Race Championships this year. Matt fits his cycling in around a demanding Carpentry (Stair making) apprenticeship which he is completing in Port Macquarie, NSW

PATRICK DRAPAC (2^nd Yr U19)

Patrick Drapac joined the team in 2008 as part of the association with the professional Drapac Porsche Cycling Team. After almost 2 years off the bike with illness, Pat has regained his form during the year and in doing so secured a Colorado State Road Championship and several US senior races in June and the Victorian U19 Omnium Championships in December. Pat is studying Yr 12 at Xavier College in Melbourne in 2009, and also enjoys cooking and playing soccer and tennis when he has the time.

SAM SPOKES (1^st Yr U19)

This is Sam’s fourth year with the team and he is a testament to the team’s development program. This witty young man has developed into a mature, articulate and well rounded individual having been exposed to many experiences and responsibilities with the team both in Australia and overseas. Sam has won and medaled in several Australian Championships and is currently studying Yr 12, in Tamworth NSW

LACHLAN MORTON (1^st Yr U19)

Lachlan is one of the original members of RAK, joining the team at age 13. Lachlan spent an extended time in the US in 2008 where he won his first Professional Category race and also a Junior USA Road Championship. He was also given the opportunity to race in Japan at the invitation of Drapac Porsche Cycling. Lachlan is completing year 12 at MacKillop College in Port Macquarie in 2009, after completing Year 11 by distance education

ETHAN KIMMANCE (1^st Yr U19)

Ethan is a new recruit to the team for 2009, having come to the attention of the team coach after steady improvement over a number of years in the sport. Ethan’s recent notable results include a 4^th in the 2008 Australian Road Championships (U17s) and 3^rd places in the 2008 NSW Hill climb and Time Trial Championships. Ethan will benefit greatly from a structured team environment. He will commence Yr 11 in Inverell, NSW in 2009

KEVIN HAWES (2^nd Yr U19)

Kevin is a long standing member of the team. He is a tenacious and consistent rider who never gives up, and is an example of the RAK philosophy - “doing your best … whatever you do”, measuring his success against his own performances. Kevin will complete Yr 12 at MacKillop College in Port Macquarie .

DAVID EDWARDS (2^nd Yr U17)

David is a talented young rider hailing from Atherton, Queensland. His recent performances at the Tour of Yunca in New Zealand, where he won the junior tour, secured him a place in the 2009 RAK line up. David displays a clear ambition in the sport and also a desire to achieve academically, making him a worthy team member. David also enjoys running, swimming and playing chess, has won numerous sporting awards and has represented his state in Cycling on four occasions

JARED TRIGGS (2^nd Yr U17)

Jared joined the team in 2008 and accompanied the team to the US for their annual tour. While he was there, Jared won the Colorado U17’s Road Race Championships and the Glenwood Springs Criterium (Cat 4). He also won the “King of the Mountain” category and “Most aggressive rider” in the Tour of Yunca, NZ. This impressive young man is equally academically motivated as he is in his sport, attending Yr 11 at Caringbah Selective School, NSW. Jared also works part time at his local bike shop and enjoys reading and camping in his spare times.

BENJAMIN FOX (1^st Yr U17)

Another relatively new competitor in the sport, Benjamin only started competing in open events in 2008, and has already won the U15 NSW Hill Climb Championship and came 8^th in the Australian U15 Road Race Championship. Ben also enjoys a variety of sport including Rugby, Triathlon, BMX, Touch, Cricket and plays the Drums and Guitar. Ben lives in Inverell, NSW where he is studying Year 9 at Holy Trinity in 2009

EVAN HULL (1^st Yr U17)

Evan resides in Ararat, Victoria and was identified as a future talent in cycling by the Drapac Porsche Cycling Program. As the youngest member of the team, Evan will spend the year adjusting to the team environment and stepping up to the U17 category, in preparation for becoming eligible to accompany the team to Colorado in 2010. His notable performances include 3 Australian Championships medals in the U15 Road Race (2^nd), Criterium (3^rd) and Team Sprint (2^nd).

JOSHUA BLICK (1^st Yr U17)

Joshua is a new recruit to Road cycling only starting the sport a little over a year ago, coming from a background of recreational Mountain Biking. Joshua has already notched up a number of significant results coming 2^nd in the NSW U15 Hill Climb and 3^rd in the NSW Time Trial Championships and 6^th in the Australian U15 Road Race Championship. Bushwalking, camping and Computer Studies are among Josh’s other interests. He is studying Year 10 at St Clare’s in Taree, NSW in 2009.

DRAPAC DOMINATES U19 OMNIUM

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:58:49 GMT

Patrick smashed the U19's field by winning every event in the 2008 Victorian U 19 Omnium Championships . Click on link to view story

http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=19930

INVERELL BOYS MAKE RAK LINE UP

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:49:56 GMT

Two Inverell riders make it through tough selection process to join RAK . Click on link to view story

RAK IN LINE UP FOR CYCLIST OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:34:55 GMT

RAK is proud to announce it has no less than three members announced as finalists for the 2008 Australian Cyclist of the Year Awards.

Lauren Kitchen, Sarah Kent and Tom Palmer, have each been named as one of three finalists in the following categories;

Lauren Kitchen - Junior Cyclist of the Year – Female Road
Sarah Kent - Junior Cyclist of the Year – Female Track
Tom Palmer - Junior Cyclist of the Year – Male Track

Each of these riders have worked extremely hard this year and overcome individual adversity and challenges to achieve this well deserved recognition.

The awards will be presented at a gala celebration being staged at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne on the 23^rd November.

PAT ON TOP IN SCHOOL BOY TUSSLE

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:42:11 GMT

Real Aussie Kids rider Patrick Drapac demonstrated he is back in form when he claimed the 2008 U19’s Victorian All Schools Criterium Championship in Melbourne last weekend. The 30 minute Criterium was the curtain raiser to the final stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour .

Patrick lined up against some tough competition on the tricky 1.9 km Lygone Street Course, which featured several tight turns and fast straights. The race started with riders attacking from the gun, and things didn’t calm down, with Pat having to do a lot of the chasing while other riders were playing team tactics. The field was whittled down to ten riders in the closing stages, but the pace and the constant attacks did not let up. On the final lap it was Pat chasing a rider from the recently formed Australian Road Cycling Team(ARC), with another ARC rider hot on his tail. It came down to a scintillating sprint with Pat crossing the line 10 metres ahead of a surprised Stuart Smith in second and Nick Aitkin in third.

Pat will welcome some team support when RAK lines up in the Mens Support Race at the Jayco Bay Classic Series in the new year.

RAK JOIN DRAPAC IN TOUR DE OKINAWA

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:18:28 GMT

Real Aussie Kids riders, Tom Palmer and Lachlan Morton are off to Japan in early November to compete in the Tour de Okinawa. The riders have been invited to participate in the tour through the Drapac Porsche Cycling Team. Tom, who returned from the Junior World Cycling Championships in South Africa, with a swag of medals around his neck is currently sitting his Year 12 final exams which finish days before he is set to fly out with team mate, Lachlan Morton, who has recently return from Colorado as the USA Road Champion (15-16yrs), to commence his Yr 12 studies in Port Macquarie.

The RAK riders have been invited to compete in the ‘International Junior Race’ category, whilst their senior counterparts from Drapac Porsche will contest the ‘Men’s Champions Road Race’, the longest one day Road race in Japan at 200kms.

Drapac Porsche and Real Aussie Kids formed an association earlier this year where Drapac Porsche sponsored RAK as administrators of their Junior Development Program under the guidance of Coach Graham Seers. “This is a wonderful opportunity for these young riders to accompany a professional level team, compete as one of the team, and be mentored by such experienced athletes”, said Seers. “It is also fabulous that countries like Japan are offering International Junior races and subsidizing the costs of riders to attend”, he said.

The Tour starts on the 8^th November, and will be run around the mountainous northern section of the island of Okinawa, which lays half way between Japan and Taiwan. The Champions Men Race will be 200km long while the International Junior race will be 130kms.

RAK RIDERS COMPETE IN NZ

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:54:57 GMT

Read about RAK riders, Sam Spokes and Jared Triggs in New Zealand competing in the YUNCA Tour of the Southand, in Invercargill as part of the Cycling NSW and NSW Institute of Sport Development Team. The team is being accompanied by RAK Coach Graham Seers who sends this report ...

RAK NEWSLETTER - OCT '08

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:47:16 GMT

For a great summary on what the team has been up to over the past four months, and lots of photos click on the link to view the PDF file

REAL AUSSIE KIDS CONTINUE GOOD FORM IN AUSTRALIA

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:38:59 GMT

As part of the RAK Media skills program, 15 yr old Jared Triggs provides this great media report on the Ride for Life Circuit Race at Centennial Park...

Aussie Kid is US Champion

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:09:35 GMT