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UP FRONT

DEPARTMENTS

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL MOTOCROSS TO DATE, SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

HIGH SCHOOL motocross is a phrase that implies school support, perhaps even school development. But high school motocross was not initiated by educators and it most certainly has not been included in the athletic curricula of school districts across the country. So where does it stand? Who began the concept? How was it developed? What do school districts think? What of the future?

Where the sport stands is the easiest of these questions to answer. High school motocross in practice and theory is being evaluated by the ABC Unified School District here in California. They are the pioneers. They approved motocross as a team letter sport in the fall of ’75. For ’76, a schedule of events has been set and they are behind it all the way. To my knowledge, this is the first time motocross has been recognized as a sport by educators anywhere.

High school motocross got this far in Southern California largely because of three men: Vic Wilson, Jim Manning and George Suttles. Here’s how the concept developed. In April of 1974, Vic, one of the owners of Saddleback Park, was plagued with a problem. He had a list of students from 10 or 12 high schools who were interested in racing. They wanted to know if something could be done to make inter-school competition possible. Vic didn’t have time to organize the concept, but he did have an appropriate facility at Orange County International Raceway. Jim Manning was hired to turn the concept into reality.

Jim made contact with all of the students on the list and began scheduling schools and riders on a regular weekly basis. To provide the necessary incentive for competition, the top 125cc Expert rider from each school (at the conclusion of the series) was invited to ride in a special race in the 1974 Superbowl of Motocross in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Much to Jim’s surprise, the majority of high school riders were not interested in riding an entire series to qualify for the Superbowl. They wanted a single qualifying event. Entries dropped off and, as a weekly endeavor, high school motocross was in trouble. After all, lack of entries means no income for the promoter and that means he takes a bath on track preparation. In spite of this, the concept was given more development time by Vic when he okayed a summer series after the Superbowl.

By October of 1974, organizing the events at OCIR meant working 70-80 hours a week. Alternatives were discussed, but were not worked out, so Jim left the position as Vic’s high school motocross consultant in November. This move put an organization called the Scholastic Association of Motorsport into limbo. S.A.M. was an idea of Jim’s, funded largely by Vic for the purpose of sanctioning amateur junior high and high school events. A month later, S.A.M. was purchased by Jim and Rick DeGiorgio, and was incorporated in the state of California.

Beginning in January of ’75, Jim moved S.A.M. to Ascot Park and began coordinating a spring series of high school motocross with Media Max. Again, riding in a special Superbowl race was the incentive.

During the months from January to April of ’75, several things became obvious. First, Media Max (the company that promotes the Superbowl of MX), decided that a high school series starting in January or earlier and ending in July was too long. Promised advertising assistance didn’t materialize until May. Second, each racing facility involved had different ideas and problems regarding high school motocross. Surprising was the reluctance of most track owners to provide the proper insurance needed to have school involvement. To prevent charges of commission kickbacks, Jim allowed his insurance license to expire. He had held the license for 15 years. Third, Media Max was reluctant to design the Superbowl track to safety standards proven and acceptable to high school amateur competition. One example was a series of mounds that ran at 90 degrees to the track in the starting area. Ultimately these were bypassed, but not until after practice. And fourth, the concept of amateur racing—as related to high school motocross and commercial interests, as represented by several facilities and Media Max—were diametrically opposite. Amateur racing is for the development and enjoyment of the competitor. Commercial interests are into racing to make money. Money is made by increasing the number of spectators and they are usually drawn to “spectacular” events. “Spectacular” events usually have difficult jumps and turns that invite crashes.

Because of these problems, Jim turned to George Suttles of the ABC Unified School District. George is a department chairman for the district and his total responsibility is motorcycle awareness, rider training, and development of motorcycle sport as it relates to physical education.

After several meetings with George, Jim became a teacher of motorcycle awareness for the district. George became interested in developing motocross as a team letter sport and, with Jim’s help, he sold the school district on the concept.

George is now leading the way for acceptance of all phases of motorcycling into other school systems. His fully staffed rider training program on school grounds is opening a lot of doors. As for high school motocross, it’s statistically safer than either basketball or football, so there’s hope there too as far as educators are concerned.

As for the future, there needs to be a separation of high school and sportsman classifications: In other words, a varsity high school motocrosser is not necessarily an Expert sportsman and shouldn’t be considered one unless he has progressed from Novice to Junior to the Expert ranks on his own.

Complementing this is the need for promoters to realize that all high school athletes are not capable of safely negotiating tracks designed for Experts. Dangerous jumps and the like should be removed or bypassed.

Ultimately, a uniform engine displacement for high school motocross would greatly simplify promotion of the events. A good size is 125cc, for reasons of popularity, performance and availability. And there need to be rules governing modifications. All amateurs are not wealthy!

With a little cooperation, promoters, school districts, and students can all prosper.