AusCycling ceo Marne Fechner holds meet and greet for FNQ cycling club presidents

Understanding what different FNQ cycling clubs want and need was the goal of an AusCycling forum to foster a co-ordinated ‘hub not club’ approach to benefit all riders.

Making FNQ cycling all about a cooperative “hub not club,” approach to benefit all riders was the goal for senior AusCycling officials meeting with FNQ cycling clubs on Thursday night.

AusCycling national chief executive Marne Fechner, together with executive general manager Agostino Giramondo and Queensland general manager Sean Muir, met with a number of clubs at a forum at hosted at the Cairns Cycling Club in Manunda to discuss how they can work together across the track, dirt, gravel and mountain riding sports.

Fechner said the Cairns meeting was part of organisation which represented over 450 affiliated clubs and riding groups and comprised more than 52,000 members across BMX, BMX Freestyle, Cyclo-Cross, E-Sport, Mountain Bike, Para-Cycling, Road, Track and Lifestyle (recreational and commuter) riding.

AusCycling chief executive Marne Fechner was in Cairns on October 20 and 21 to meet with various stakeholders to discus the future of the sport in FNQ. Picture: Alison Paterson

She said Cairns was the last stop on a 1600km trek where they also held forums at other key cycling towns including Townsville, McKay, Rockhampton and Bundaberg.

“Our clubs are out major stakeholders and the lifeblood of the sport,” she said.

“I’m a big believer of sitting around the table and understand what the key issues are about.”

Muir said the clubs which attended included Cairns Cycling Club, Cairns BMX, Cairns Mountainbike Club, Rainforest and Reef Cycling Club, Atherton BMX and Tablelands Multisport Club.

He said AusCycling needed to ensure the issues important to clubs are reflected by the organisation.

Cairns BMX Club president Weng Nish attended the AusCycling forum held in Cairns for FNQ cycling clubs on October 20.

Giramondo said the 15 people who showed up will help steer FNQ cycling into the future.

Cairns BMX Club President Weng Nish said he felt the forum was a good move to help the clubs come together and support each other.

“This forum will help foster communication between different cycling disciplines,” he said.

“There’s a lot of crossover between different types of cycling and BMX is the entry for many people to their types of riding as our demographic starts at two to late teens, then again in the 30s when people have kids themselves.”

Nish said he looked forward to working more with other cycling clubs to support the sport in the Cairns region.

Originally published as AusCycling ceo Marne Fechner holds meet and greet for FNQ cycling club presidents