Writer Shannon Severson // Photography by Loralei Lazurek

There’s no doubt that all team sports build physical health, perseverance and collaborative ability, but one “off-the-beaten-path” club team associated with Boulder Creek High School is also preparing young people to face the challenges of life and uniting families as a special community.

Boulder Creek Mountain Biking Team takes students of all ability levels on travels around the state to compete. Head coach Mike Harrelson, who will soon hand off lead duties to Michael Kaczocha, says that the team has become very much like a family; and it’s a winning family.

“This year, the team took third place in the Arizona Cycling Association’s state competition for the fall season,” Harrelson says. “As we’ve grown, we also began competing in the Arizona National Interscholastic Cycling Association’s spring league in 2022.”

Life Paths and Bike Paths
The team, which includes students in grades 6–12, is a microcosm of the varying personalities and interests found in the community and can’t be defined by any stereotype.

“We have a wide range [of participants],” says Kaczocha; “kids who are in band, football and basketball players, BMXers and kids who only mountain bike. The families and kids gather and everyone is cheering for everyone. Even other teams cheer for each other. It’s competitive but a positive atmosphere.”

That positive atmosphere is something Kaczocha and Harrelson see as part of their mission: developing life skills using mountain biking as a tool. Three afternoons per week, the athletes are sent out in groups according to ability, along with a coach or two to supervise and teach. Many of the coaches are parents, something that makes this sport different from others — it easily becomes a family affair.

“It’s two hours not connected to social media,” Harrelson says. “They look at sunsets, rattlesnakes and desert tortoises. They get to see nature and enjoy the outdoors with family and friends. It’s a great sport to get kids involved in an overall wellness lifestyle. It removes the stresses of everyday life.”

As life can get pretty rocky and kids must ultimately learn resilience to face challenges on their own, mountain biking is a metaphor for what students face in their own lives. It can be smooth sailing when the course is easy and flat, but as the trail gets more complicated and challenging, it’s just a rider and the bike they’re astride that must navigate tough terrain and come out victorious or learn from the mistakes.

“You can train them, but then on race day, they’re out on the course and on their own,” Kaczocha says.

Harrelson agrees, noting that it’s been satisfying to see the athletes gain confidence and the values of meeting and overcoming obstacles independently.

“It’s great because we practice and get them ready, then we push them out of the nest,” he says. “You see them learning and developing skills they didn’t know they had before.”

The men say that they’ve seen riders gain confidence and those who started with little to no experience learn to overcome obstacles on the course and in life. Those courses are four- to five-mile loops at any given location. Safety officers are on standby in case something goes wrong, but students face each rock, rut and rivulet on their own.

“That’s one of the things I enjoy the most,” says Harrelson. “seeing the confidence they gain by being out on a mountain bike. I see kids who come in and don’t get along with others. They learn how to work on their own and they develop social skills — how to be on the team and also personal growth. They gain confidence and mental toughness.”

Moving Up the Mountain
The co-ed team was founded in 2013 but has been an official club at Boulder Creek High School for the past five years. All riders train together, allowing younger or less experienced riders to gain experience and learn from more seasoned riders. While most of the 30 teams they compete against average about a dozen riders, Boulder Creek’s team has 20. There are 71 teams state-wide, split into northern and southern Arizona. This team is in the northern circuit.

Competition categories are based on ability. Middle school has its own categories, but in high school, there are the standard divisions like any other major sport: freshman, junior varsity 1, junior varsity 2 and varsity — all based on ability and the previous season’s placing. The team practices three days a week after school, for two hours each day. Utilizing Apache Wash and Desert Hills trailheads, its home turf is the Sonoran Desert Trail.

Athletes start the season with basic skills to make sure that all riders know the essentials — including health, safety and trail etiquette. They advance based on their skills and abilities. All racers follow the same course but more experienced riders race for longer distances. Each competition category has its own distance and time requirements.

Team members and their families truly get to see the beauty of every corner of Arizona. In the fall, it’s riding among the pine trees of Flagstaff and the Cottonwoods of Prescott; in the spring, it’s the Saguaro-dotted mountains of Tucson and the rugged ridges and canyons of the White Tank and McDowell Mountains. New this year will be Gold and Peralta canyons with their hieroglyphs, boulders and creeks.

There is always a new trail to conquer and many families choose to camp together near the race locations.

Family Framing
Kaczocha and Harrelson are both fathers whose kids grew up participating in sports. While their own children are grown, the team allows them to give back, help kids build skills and see families connect.

Kaczocha, a New River resident, has three daughters who grew up playing soccer. Mountain biking since his late 20s, he was drawn to the adrenaline with a little touch of fear thrown in. He raced for years but was a bit burned out on the circuit. He had volunteered as a camp counselor and director for 30 years when a friend asked him to help coach the mountain biking team.

“Racing wasn’t fun [for me] anymore,” Kaczocha recalls. “Riding with the kids and seeing their joy … it reminded me of what it’s all about. They’re fast and made me ride faster. This team is like a family.”

Although Kaczocha will soon take the team’s reins, Harrelson will still be a big part of the inner workings of the team, to include putting together practice ride plans. An Anthem resident, Harrelson credits his daughter and two sons for getting him into riding. When his children first began at the middle school level, they were only able to practice, not compete. But that’s not the case anymore.

“Now [middle school] has evolved to being alongside the high school for races and competitions,” Harrelson says. “My younger daughter and son also got involved in mountain biking and in other sports. Mountain biking helped them gain confidence and mental toughness.”

Harrelson’s youngest son won two state championships on the Boulder Creek team and now represents Team USA on the world stage in international mountain bike races.

As Kaczocha and Harrelson lead their team into spring competition, they foresee getting parent coaches more involved as well as continuing to welcome more young riders and more families into the fold. For this crew, there’s always a new friendship, a new path and a new skill to develop as they race the trails in Arizona’s stunning wilderness.