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The Mini-Cow Tri Club… Designed to Get Kids ‘Mooving’

August 5, 2011
on 5/8/11
MoJo: DonnaMarie Needle

brianlauschphotography.com

The Fourth Annual Nottingham Kids Triathlon will be held Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Nottingham Swim Club in Mount Airy. It has been named the USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Youth Regional Championship for 2011.

The club was started by Christy and Brian Lausch of Mount Airy for children ages 7-14 and became an official USA Triathlon Club in 2010. According to their tag line, the Mini Cow Tri Club, is a youth triathlon club designed to get kids “Mooving.”

Mini-Cow Tri Club is the only triathlete club in Maryland specifically focused on youth triathletes and only one of four in the entire Mid-Atlantic region. “Most clubs are adult focused,” said Lausch. “Although they may have a small youth component, it’s a subset of the adult club. We are specifically focused on the kids.”

“The Mid-Atlantic region is the largest region for USA Triathlons,” added husband and partner, Brian Lausch.

“The club started about four years ago when we put on the Nottingham Kids Triathlon, which is here in the Nottingham community at our community pool,” said Christy Lausch, who has been racing in triathlons for about 13 years and has a love for the sport.

With two young kids who participated in events here and there throughout Mount Airy and neighboring communities, the Lausches decided they wanted to have an event in their own community, hence the Mini Cow Tri-Club was born.

The race has grown by 50 percent each year. Last year the club had just over 100 kids entered, and this year they are expecting around 150 kids. “The first year, we had 40 kids or so,” said Lausch. “And most of those kids were from the neighborhood,” added Brian. “In years two and three we were seeing more kids throughout Mount Airy and the neighboring counties,” continued Brian. “This year we are pulling kids from DC, Virginia and Pennsylvania.”

The Nottingham event has been named the USA Triathlon Mid-Atlantic Youth Regional Championship for 2011 and 2012. “We hold that title for this year and next year which is a big honor,” added Lausch. “It’s something we had to submit for and be selected by USA Triathlons which is the governing body of all Triathlon clubs in the US.”

In addition to their championship designation, The Mini Cow Tri Club partnered with three other Youth Triathlons in Maryland to form the Maryland Youth Triathlon Series. That includes the Win The Fight Frederick Kids Triathlon in May, the Annapolis Truxton Youth Triathlon in June, and the TriColumbia Kidz Triathlon in July, and then the Nottingham Kids Triathlon in August rounds out the series.

Brian handles all the communication and marketing. He has a Race Director Certification through USA Triathlon. This certification provides the training and skills encompassing the standards needed to ensure all events are safe and within the guidelines set by USA Triathlon.

Christy has two certifications through USA Triathlon. One is a Level 1 Coach and an additional layer of certification as a Youth and Junior Coach. “Working with youth athletes is much different from working with adult athletes. We want to make sure that we’re giving them the skills they need to become lifetime athletes, whether that’s as a triathlete or something else.”

This year, the Lausches opened up the club for membership. Club membership opened in March, and so far the club has brought 17 members on board. Members train weekly with the kids and attend different youth races across the state of Maryland. Kids do not have to be members of the club to race in any of the events, however being a club member gives kids access to special training. “Each week is a different focus, so we will do run training, bike skills or transitions, which is a huge component of triathlons,” added Lausch. “When you get out of the pool all wet, how do you get your shoes on, helmet, etc. Those transitions are a big part of triathlons.”

“We also have club uniforms the kids wear to these events so when we go to the events they feel like a team, which is really important because a triathlete, similar to say a swimmer, is the individual doing his or her best, but also belonging to a team,” added Lausch. “We are trying to build that same camaraderie with the kids supporting their fellow team mates. We were at an event last month where we saw the oldest athletes cheering the youngest kids into the finish line and that’s what it’s really all about for us. It’s about the whole team. We really want to make sure it’s fun for them,” continued Lausch. “We want to make sure they are having fun and they want to come back.”

A big take away for the focus of the club is the fun factor. The Lausches are focused on ensuring their events and their club are combining the right amount of competition with the fun aspects. “We want to make sure these kids leave our event saying ‘yeah it was tough, but I finished and I had a really good time,’” added Brian.

Where did they get the Mini-Cow Tri Club name? Lausch laughed. “We get that question all the time. We live in Mount Airy, and Brian and I are both runners. The streets that we run on are farmland…and Knills Farm Market is right next door. We run past all the pastures and corn fields and we felt like we needed something to identify the club and its roots, yet we wanted it to be fun as well.”

Registration just closed for the Nottingham Youth Triathlon on Aug. 27, however registration is open for the Kids Adventure BOOathlon at Knill's Farm Market which is in October. For more information visit Kids Adventure Booathlon at Knills Farm.

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