Carl Jones Junior Coach of the Year 2022
I could talk about why I think Coach Carl deserves this award but honestly I think the best thing to do would be to share his nomination form that was submitted by Annette & Tegan with contributions from dozens of our junior riders, parents of riders and others who know Coach Carl, I would like to personally extend a big thank you to everyone for doing this!
Why are you nominating this coach?
This Year at Nationals Coach Carl told us all that “Now is the time to try something crazy, something you haven’t done before” basically to put it all out there on the line and this has stuck with me, and what made me to think of submitting this nomination. I started at Alkek Velodrome in 2019 and have been coming to training with Coach Carl for the last 18 month and Coach Carl pushes me to be better on and off the track and always has fun work out and makes us laugh with his expressions. But I know Coach Carl Jones is such a huge part of the cycling community in Texas for so many years that I asked for help in writing this nomination from people who have known him longer than me. You can’t go into any bike shop in Houston or attend a cycling event (of any kind) where people do not know who he is and have only good things to say about him. That’s not to mention those that know him at T-town and VELO. While Coach Carl is a USA Cycling Level 2 coach with a B.S. in Kinesiology, Movement and Sports Studies, he is also a full time PE teacher for elementary children, which helps immensely in utilizing his fantastic educational background, but more importantly, he “gets” us Juniors. Coach Carl is incredibly capable of understanding the different, and constantly changing, motivators of each Junior whether they are 7 or 17. There is no question that Coach Carl was instrumental in helping Northwest Cycling Club (NWCC) achieve the honor of being chosen as USAC Club of the Year for all five times. Without him coaching those Junior teams, there is no COTY award. Period. And let’s not forget about the numerous racers he’s coached that have worn National Championship jerseys (pro and amateur), raced on devo teams throughout the nation and Europe, and even a couple that did multiple Tour de France races and other Classics. But I can guarantee that Coach will tell you his greatest accomplishment is the many kids that have raced for their college teams and/or gotten scholarships at cycling programs. (never stops coaching even podium etiquette https://www.facebook.com/AlkekVelodrome/photos/5242614192469456) I can say with complete confidence that without Coach Carl Jones there would be no Junior track cycling in Texas! (I couldn't decide between Track and Junior development Coach carl fits in both as he encourages track cycling at all levels and Juniors in any discipline but is based around Track)
What makes this coach unique from others that you know or have worked with?
Coach Carl Jones inspires us Juniors on so many levels – he helps each of us find our cycling passion and helps build confidence in our ability to meet those goals, no matter what the skill level. The most impressive thing is when you hear parents talk about how their kids have developed under Coach Carl, that he inspires kids to train because they want to, not because he told them to. He expects well-mannered, coachable kids on and off the bike and the kids and parents) respect and admire him for that expectation. However, the most unique thing about coach Carl is that he has such a passion for cycling and, especially, developing cycling that he transfers that passion of “giving back” to many of his juniors. This can be exemplified by:
• Most of the juniors volunteer their time as “Coaches” at the summer youth cycling program to support Coach Carl. Taking time out of their summer vacation to be there for those 3-4 weeks. Volunteering. In Summer. In Texas. Out on the track. You should understand how well he is thought-of based upon those four words alone.
• Several former youth riders have become part of the Velodromes support program who help new riders at the track. You can also see the older kids cheering and supporting the younger riders at events and during training.
• Not to mention Lawson Craddock, a former alumnus, giving Coach Carl boxes of his "last season” professional kits so the juniors can have quality equipment, lending his name to the Youth Cycling League and turning his misfortune at the Tour De France into a $300K fundraiser for the Alkek Velodrome. (Kit kept me riding in the winter: https://www.facebook.com/AlkekVelodrome/photos/4681661518564729)
