Giving It Back

Townley-Urwin 2012 Development Squad

maddix park mx

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             From June through to September,  Niki Urwin and Ben Townley are teaming up to offer  three 3-day training sessions for 6 of New Zealand’s top junior/early senior riders (ages ranging from 12 to 18 years).

Their aim is to help bridge the gap between success in New Zealand and international success.  It can be a struggle for New Zealanders heading overseas to ride for the first time so the training days will be all encompassing - riding skills, fitness etc  of course, but also how to better prepare and make the most of potential and the opportunities that arise.

Costs to the riders selected will be minimal. Townley and Urwin are hoping to get some sponsors on board for the initial sessions. They also hope that these sessions will be an ongoing event and that successful riders will, in their turn, give something back to motorcycling, be it motocross, supercross or enduro.

Squad training camps will commence in June 2012. 

Applicants are asked to submit their story to [email protected] , including their goals and dreams and why they think they have the X factor to be a future international champion.

Applications for the squad open this month (January) and will close on the on the final day of competition at the 2012 NZ Junior Championships in April.

Niki Urwin (pictured above) was one of the country's top professional Motocross riders for many years winning six New Zealand titles and finishing fourth in the Australian Motocross Championship in 2002. His MX riding career was halted in 2002 when an accident at an MX event in Australia left him a paraplegic. You have probably spotted him on his red quad or in his wheelchair at tracks around the country.

Niki started coaching with Nick Reader’s very good programme at Motorcycling New Zealand (MNZ). He started as a Level One Coach and did a lot of training events. This was the basis of the MNZ programme initially but it then expanded to dedicated Junior Coaching and lastly high performance.  “We trained a number of riders,” says Niki, “including Katherine Prumm and Ben Townley who would both go on to win world championships. I enjoyed the work and after my accident I focused solely on the high performance elite level and managed to achieve some really good things with Katherine Prumm”.

The MNZ coaching programme stopped after a few years but Niki has carried on helping national champions Michael Phillips, Mason Phillips and Kieran Leigh, amongst others.

As a former professional motocross rider, Niki understands the demands placed on athletes in the modern age. He has a real talent for working out the needs of individual athletes, and helping them to meet these through practice, preparation and skill development.

Ben Townley needs no introduction. The New Zealander, who won the 2004 MX 2 World Championship & Dutch MX Championship, boasts 12 New Zealand national titles, 13 World Motocross Championship Grand Prix wins and was the 2007 AMA Supercross Lites East Coast Champion.

“ I have been lucky enough to be successful internationally, “ says Ben, “and want to give back to the sport that has given so much to me.  I have decided to help develop our future talent, building their skills to become future international champions.  To achieve this, a new Motocross Development Squad will be created in 2012 to advance New Zealand’s best up and coming talent”.

 
Bookmark and Share