A quick Q and A!
Q: What goes in a coaches pack?
A: See this link.
Q: How do you train your team when it’s cold and rainy?
A: Find a spin gym in your neighborhood and talk to them about sponsorship/partnership. Arrange for the opportunity to teach spin and strength training classes after school and/or on rainy weekends.
Q: What’s the ideal makeup of a training group?
A: My team likes ratio of around 6-8 athletes to 1 coach, at least two coaches per group, one of those coaches should be level 2 or greater, both must carry radios. No one passes the leader, no one goes behind the sweep. Everyone finishes the ride. In a perfect world you have one or more coaches in the middle of the group.
Q: How does a slow coach train fast kids?
A: Ride to a loop. Define the loop. Talk about the practice, the goal, what each rider will do. Give them lap counts. One coach counts laps (always carry pen and paper) and perhaps practices bottle hand-ups, while the other rolls with the group, acts as marshall at intersections, encourages riders. Coaches trade off. Fast kids go fast, coaches go coach-fast, beginners get their work done. Talk about it, congratulate, ride together back to start.
Q: Who wins the high-five game?
A: The kid who got the most high-fives from other trail users, on the team ride!