With a year filled with numerous Hacienda League titles and CIF appearances, Diamond Bar High School has a new addition to its athletic program—the Mountain Bike Club has turned into a Mountain Bike team. After learning that the Mountain Bike Club competed in the SoCal league, which consisted of 40 high schools, 400 riders and five races, the DB athletics¡¯ program had no reason to not turn the club into a new sports team. “I am excited that the club is becoming a sport,” freshman Kenji Yoshimoto said.
During the beginning of the school year, the Mountain Bike team was considered a club, not a sport, since any student was able to sign up and participate. After, the team was able to recruit 15 riders; coach Yoshi Yoshimoto considered implementing a try-out process because the team would be gaining almost all of its members back next year. ¡°With most of the team coming back and many new players interested in competing, a try-out would be beneficial for team,¡± Yoshimoto commented.
The Mountain Bike team is just like any other sports team; as the Brahmas meet up three times a week to practice. The team would even work out at LA Fitness two months prior to its season to prepare for the competition.
The achievement of becoming a renowned sport at DB does not overshadow the fact that the Mountain Bike team was able to have a successful season. Although the Brahmas competed in the Division I of the league and finished the season in ninth place out of eleven teams, the Mountain Bike team still had a successful season as six members are competing at the State Championships.
Despite being such a new sport, the Mountain Bike team has shown great improvement since the start of the school year. At the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, many of the members did not know how to ride a mountain bike. With hard work and determination, the athletes can now cycle at an 18% to 19% incline. “This was a great improvement for our team. Before, the players would just stop cycling and walk up the hill. However, as time [went] on, the members were able to cycle up the slope without any kinds of problems,” Y. Yoshimoto expressed.
