About Us

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The Casteel MTB Team was started in 2019, by parents at Casteel High School who wanted to bring the sport of mountain biking to the students there.  

We think of ourselves as more than a mountain bike team - we are truly a (mountain bike) family.  While we are teaching important skills, building confidence, challenging limits in a safe environment, and supporting our teammates (no matter what!), we are weaving together the beginning of a life story for many of our athletes.  

The stealth advantage of mountain biking is that it teaches so many life skills to our students, without them really realizing it; grit (lots of grit), critical thinking, etiquette (mostly on the trail, we can't really help too much when it comes to the dinner table), respect for others and for nature, mental tenacity, responsibility, hard work and accountability.  

We sincerely hope the lessons they learn on the trail, with their friends and coaches, from pushing themselves to places they never thought possible, will carry on with them for the rest of their lives.  This is why we started the team, to share the stoke with the next generation and pass it on.

Our team is run through AICL, an affiliate league of NICA.  Mountain biking is not yet a high school sanctioned sport, so we are considered a club within Casteel High School.

PRACTICE: We will have a 2-3 day a week practice schedule.  Most practices will take place at San Tan, Hawes, Usery, as well as other areas to test our riders' skills and mix things up.  

RACES: There are 5 races scheduled this season, where our team will compete against schools across the state of Arizona. 

COACHES: Our coaches are all volunteers, most of whom are parents of Casteel students, but we also have some awesome members of the cycling community that selflessly volunteer their time to work with our team.  We could not run this team without these amazing individuals.  All coaches are required to complete background checks and complete additional training through AICL in order to mitigate safety risks and create an equitable environment for all levels of riders at our practices.

VOLUNTEERS: If you do not want to coach, but want to help the team in some way, we can still use you for the following (and then some!):

• Team gear distribution
• Number Plate distribution
• Team Newsletter
• Pit set-up and tear down at races
• Hydration/Nutrition support at races
• Out of town accomodations (checking on room blocks/discounts, available hotels, etc)
• Compiling race results

All team communication takes place in Slack (desktop and mobile downloads available).  Once team registration concludes, we will send all team members an invite to join our Casteel MTB Slack Channel.  We encourage both riders and their parents to join, as it will be critical to stay up to date with practice information, team updates, team fun, etc.