Skyline High MTB Team Oakland, Ca

     We are The Skyline High Bicycle Club!  We are a high school mountain biking team that is part of the NorCal High School Cycling League*  This season, with a core group of dedicated adult volunteers, our team is standing alone for the first time without the support of our parent team Oakland Composite. Oakland Composite helped launch the Skyline team three seasons ago.  In the past, OakComp coached our riders, provided loaner bikes, subsidized the cost of bike clothes and equipment, organizational support, and race day support. The budding Skyline team is growing. To make this transformation successful, we are asking for community support.  Our team needs funding to keep our loaner bikes working, to subsidize our bike jerseys, support races, and to help offset training costs for our volunteer coaches.       
     One of the reasons that Skyline faces financial challenges is that our population of student-athletes is different from that of most other NorCal teams. Most  Skyline High School students come from East Oakland.  68% receive free or reduced cost lunches, and many commute to campus by public bus.  


       We have a wonderful opportunity to positively impact our student-athletes and create a healthy campus culture.  The campus sits on top of the Oakland hills and is surrounded by three parks full of mountain biking trails.  Unfortunately, most of our students commute back down the hill at the end of each school day, without setting foot in these parks and benefitting from a quality outdoor experience.  As coaches, we can attest to the positive experiences of student-athletes.  We have seen tremendous personal growth through
exposure to the non-digital and beautiful outdoors. 



     Our team has consistently grown in numbers each season and we now have over 20 riders.  We are not sure how many will try racing, but our mission is to get them to experience the outdoors in a fun, safe, and supportive environment, and to transform them into life-long cyclists along the way.  We are different than most teams, as most of our riders are new to the sport and ride loaner bikes.

     The NorCal High School Cycling League has been extremely supportive by offering scholarships to our riders in need for race fees and race registrations.  It is with their support and guidance that we have built an inclusive culture around our team and in doing so, have recruited and nurtured our amazing young student-athletes.  Camping, traveling, and supporting one another in all aspects of the team has brought our organization closer together.  Our focus has been on creating lasting experiences for our students by getting outdoors and riding the trails.  


     We are thankful to the very generous cycling community which has afforded us the opportunity to transform from a school club that fixed old commuter bikes, to a fledging mountain bike team.  We also want to thank those who helped us make this amazing film!  (Rick, Jeremie, Valdir,  Aaron, Will, Saul , Jesus, Tyriq, and Maureen)  

      In addition to NorCal’s financial support, we have been fortunate recipients of donated bikes, cycling apparel, food (GU), tools, as well as a host of other goods (bike locks and cables from Mike's Bikes).  With this support, we have been able to introduce an increasing number of Skyline students to cycling. We have steadily grown for the past 3 years, and we are ready to take the next big next step of standing alone as a team with your financial support. 

     Your support will help us maintain our loaner bikes, equip our team with helmets and cycling clothing for our race season(six weeks away!), provide healthy foods, support camping fees, and transportation costs.

*NorCal is part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).