Woodstock varsity mountain bike team grows

Woodstock Middle/High is the first public school in the state to field a varsity team

By Katy Savage and Polly Mikula

Mountain biking has been such a popular club sport at Woodstock Union High School that this fall it became a varsity sport. And it made history as the first public school in the state to field a team.

“They’re very serious athletes competing at some of the top national levels,” School Board member Matt Stout said at a district meeting this past January before the board voted unanimously to elevate mountain biking to varsity status. Stout is also on the board of the Woodstock Area Mountain Bike Association. “It’s a tremendous opportunity that we offer the kids. It’s not offered in every school. Aside from the budget, these kids deserve to be recognized like all other athletes.”

Woodstock mountain biking coach Todd Uva said the varsity level recognition will allow the team to have more funding and opportunities. “It finally gives us a budget,” Uva said. “We’ve been operating for a number of years with no budget and no transportation. All the coaches were volunteering their time.”

Uva launched the Woodstock High School Cycling Club in 2017 after leading a mountain biking program at Woodstock’s summer SOAK camp.

“I’m just a lover of cycling,” Uva said. “I wanted to share this passion with adolescents.”

To get it off the ground, he did whatever he could. He and his wife loaded up bikes in their cars and drove kids to competitions.

When the school’s club team debuted in 2018, there were 13 riders. The last year of the club there were 33 riders, making it one of the largest programs in the school.

This fall, there are 47 riders on the varsity team.

They’ll compete in the Northern New England High School Mountain Bike Series, which includes about 30 teams in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine. About 2/3 of the schools that compete in that series are from private schools/academies.

“It is definitely growing,” Uva said. “There are about 320 to 400 [students] from middle school to high school.”

Like other varsity sports, the Woodstock team started this season in August and will continue until the championship race Oct. 26.

“Being a varsity team will lead to a more serious attitude, more frequent practices, and easier transportation to races,” said Levi Halley, 17, of Woodstock, one of the team captains.

Halley started mountain biking when he was 6 years old.

“I enjoyed the aspects of being in nature and having fun with friends and family,” he said. “As I progressed, the competitive aspects of it also became a top priority. Now, I enjoy racing on the bike team the most.”

While the sport remains male-dominated, Uva said Woodstock has 9 female athletes on the team this fall— which is a greater proportion of the team than most other schools.

Ada Mahood,17, has been on the mountain biking club at Woodstock since she entered high school. She had grown bored with soccer, she said.

The rising senior is excited to compete on a varsity team.

“We’ve worked so hard these past few years and brought home some incredible wins. We deserve the recognition of a varsity sport,” Mahood said.

Mahood, who lives in Thetford, started mountain biking as a child with her family.

“I’ve had so many incredible teammates over the last few years, especially on our girls’ team we have grown so close we even call ourselves a family,” she said. “Even on days where I don’t feel like doing the tough workouts they always manage to make it super fun and joyous … For me, our team dynamic is one of the best and I look forward to every fall when I get to see everyone back in action again.”

Mahood said the sport is about camaraderie, whether she wins or loses.  She remembers a race she won her freshman year, when she was trailing in third, she heard her coach yelling, “It’s all you Ada, it’s all you.”

“I finished that race in first and my team surrounded me,” Mahood said. “It was just amazing. It felt nice to stand on top of the podium. But at the end of the day, it was my team that really pushed me to the finish line.”

When asked what the Fox U.S. Open mountain bike events mean to him, coach Uva said:  “Having the Fox U.S. Open at Killington and the UCI World Cup Cross-Country event in Lake Placid on the same weekend is a testament to the quality of trails and venues in our region. As a mountain bike coach, I’m excited that our athletes have the opportunity to take in some of the world’s best riders in two very different but exciting mountain bike disciplines.”