Matt Fritzinger has handed over the fast-growing NorCal High School Mountain Bike league to Vanessa Meyers Hauswald in order to serve as full-time director of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).
“NICA is taking off fast and I'm getting pulled in that direction,” Fritzinger said. “By August, I expect to put 100 percent of my energy into the NICA.”
Fritzinger founded the Norcal League in 2001 and expanded the program to include 35 high schools and some 600 student racers. Hauswald will take over on 1 August.
“Vanessa loves working with kids and is a very successful high school English teacher,” Fritzinger said. “Her experience as the head coach of the Casa Grande High School team and being board president for the past two years means she knows this organisation inside and out. As part owner of an event planning business, Vanessa knows how to be highly organised and plan things in great detail.”
The success of the NorCal League allowed Fritzinger to found a nationwide program late last year. The NICA plans to provide services to high school mountain bike leagues across the US, with a mission to build high school leagues in every state by 2020.
“I'll admit this is an emotional time for me, but the work leaves little time for sentimentality,” Fritzinger said. “This has been the dream job I never dreamed was possible.”