Irish Mountain Bike Leader Award Launches
The Mountain Bike Leader Awards (MBLA) was developed by Scottish Cycling (SC) in conjunction with the Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education (SAPOE) in order to provide a framework and qualification for leaders to deliver mountain biking as a safe and enjoyable activity. The MBLA Scheme facilitates a non-competitive experience of mountain biking for groups of people with wide ranging abilities and aspirations. MBLA encourages participation in mountain biking through group led activities.
The MBLA scheme provides training and assessment in mountain biking and leadership skills.
Cycling Ireland (CI) in agreement with SC will run the MBLA Scheme in Ireland (all 32 counties) as a Cycling Ireland MBLA Scheme somewhat independently of SC.
The MBLA scheme offers awards at two levels, the Trail Cycle Leader (TCL) and the Mountain Bike Leader (MBL). The comprehensive syllabus for each award includes mountain biking skills, trailside repairs and bike set-up, navigation and leadership.
The first qualification to be developed on the CI MBLA scheme is the TCL. The TCL Award consists of a two day (minimum 16 hours) training course, followed by a one day assessment.
The award is equivalent to the Basic Instructor stage on the Coaching Ireland Adventure Sport Framework in accordance with the Coaching Development Programme for Ireland.
Read more on the Cyling Ireland MBLA page.
