At Calibre Search we believe being a successful business doesn’t simply mean being profitable, but having a sense of social responsibility and giving back to the local community as well. Alongside charity runs, events and competitions, over the past few years we have sponsored several sports teams at junior and senior levels.
One of those groups is the albaRosa Cycling Club and you may have seen the Calibre Search logo on the back of their distinctive pink and black kit.
Started in 2012, in just 5 years they have grown to having over 440 members today and they pride themselves in welcoming anyone with a with an interest in cycling: race teams and training for the competitive, regular social rides for the café lovers and an ever-growing junior membership.
This year albaRosa has reached new heights and we think it is worth shouting about! Through great training, talent and the help of sponsorship funding the club have been able to do something very special for their youth division. Up until last year it was made up of 20-30 riders aged between 7 -14 years old attending on a weekly basis, but now, the club has 70 young people on their books.
They have benefitted from new coaches, a Manchester Velodrome session and for the first time in albaRosa history there is now a youth race team.
To all of us cycling novices the introduction of a race team might seem an easy task, but the time, equipment and cost of building a good race team is far from easy. With support from Calibre Search and our fellow sponsors, albaRosa was able to provide the 12-strong youth team with club race kit, race wheels, warm up rollers and anything else they would need to get them ready to compete.
Already the results are clear, albaRosa know how to race! The youth team has achieved 21 wins and 69 podium finishes whilst putting plenty of smiles on faces of the young cyclists and their families by giving them chance to learn road and cycling skills in a safe and social environment.
The club has been busy achieving massive things year so far and they aren’t ready to slow down any time soon! On the 19th of August, the club are setting out on their most ambitious task to date and hosting the Yorkshire Regional Road Race Championships. This event has Juniors, Men’s and Women’s racing in the morning and Elite racing in the afternoon and is expected to be the biggest event in the clubs 2017 calendar. The preparation and excitement is well underway with the event being about more than cycling with there being a BBQ, marquees and chance to view the closed road races creating a full day of festival style fun!
But the club is a long way from being just about racing; the emphasis is on social, be it on the road and online. Each week there are social rides of varying distances, hills and number of coffee stops while they also arranged a charity fund raiser for WaterAid earlier this year and there is usually a group wearing pink and black at most organised rides in the region and beyond such as the Coast2Coast… in a day.
We are delighted to be able support such a successful, ever growing and local group and we can’t wait to see what more the club can achieve. If you want to find out more about albaRosa and their events make sure check out their website here or follow them on twitter at @AlbaRosaCC.
