Two disciplines? Too easy: AusCycling reform helps youngster carve his own path

When AusCycling began two years ago, one of its main goals was to bring all cycling disciplines under one roof.

Road, mountain bike, BMX, track and more were joined together in one of the biggest shake-ups in Australia’s sporting landscape.

At the community level, that’s making a difference for riders such as 10-year-old Darcy Maccallum from Bundaberg BMX Club.

Darcy only took up riding two years ago, but he’s dived into the world of BMX racing.

In 2022, he competed in every round of the AusCycling BMX State Series – Queensland, plus the state championships. He and his family visited 23 tracks in all, with Nerang and Cairns among his favourites.

What does Darcy love about it? “The thrill of winning, and the people you meet on the way,” he told AusCycling.

The passionate youngster is coached by former Australian representative Beau Pratt and has attended training camps run by 14-time national champion Dirk Winter.

But that’s only half the story. At the encouragement of his father Rick, earlier this year Darcy took up track cycling too, and he’s enjoying the variety.

“The coaching is pretty fun because they do different stuff every time,” Darcy said.

“On Tuesday, we go behind a motorbike that has a roller on the back, and we can sit against that, and make the roller spin.”

Darcy has now added two track bikes to his four BMX bikes. He rides five days a week at the velodrome or the BMX track. His debut track event will be the Bundaberg Cycling Spectacular at the Kevin Brogden Velodrome this month.

Before AusCycling, Darcy would have needed separate licences across different organisations to do what he loves. Now, his cross-discipline journey has been made simpler.

This integrated approach is changing the way people ride at every level: from the grassroots in Bundaberg all the way up to Olympic and Paralympic programs.

The Australian Cycling Team was recently re-organised from siloed sports into two cross-discipline performance areas: Endurance, and Acceleration and Action.

The restructure enables high performance athletes to jump between disciplines easily. It keeps the options open for young riders like Darcy, giving more chances to fulfil their sporting dreams, as AusCycling’s Head Coach of Action and Acceleration Scott Gardner explained.

“In years gone by, riders of Darcy’s age reached a point where they had to choose between disciplines. The restructure makes that choice less critical, which keeps emerging athletes more engaged in the sport,” Gardner said.

“It also gives us more time to identify athletes whose bodies may still be developing but suited to a different fast-twitch or endurance discipline, which can ultimately give more riders the opportunity to pursue a professional contract and compete for Australia.”

That’s exactly what Darcy’s aiming for. His sights are set on yet another event in Queensland – albeit one that’s a little bigger than anything he’s raced so far.

“I would like to ride for Australia in the 2032 Olympics for BMX,” he said.

A home Games is still a long way away, but one thing’s for certain: there are now more paths for Darcy to get there.

Photos: Jodie Maccallum