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Aoife and Aaron are Ulster Champions

Thursday, 26 January 2012

Aoife Cameron Mitchell was crowned the Girls Under 16 MTB Champion for 2011 at the Cycling Ulster awards.

BALLYMONEY Cycling Club's under 14 rider Aoife Cameron Mitchell was crowned the Girls Under 16 MTB Champion for 2011 while Aaron Swan was collected six titles at the Cycling Ulster awards at Moyola Golf Club last weekend.
Colin Thompson, club treasurer and great exponent of youth cycling development in Ireland, received the award on Aoife's behalf. Aoife has had success at Larne, Ormeau Park and Bangor.
With youth cycling growing at a very fast pace in Ulster, clubs like Banbridge, Carn Wheelers and Spires of Magherafelt are leading the field, however, the Ballymoney Club will be hard on their heels now in the new Year when Sprocket Rocket coaches Niall Carlin and Joan Trengove set in motion the plans that BCC have for 2012/13.
With riders from BCC in the past mainly involved in road racing and health and leisure cycling, it came as a great challenge when Aoife, Aaron and Stuart Laverty were starting to show that they could handle themselves off road as well as well as riders like, under 12 and 10 years Eoin and Liam McAuley, James and Rebecca Carlin, Chris Surgenor, Craig Crawford and not forgetting the elder statesman of the group, the experienced Graeme Elliott.
Aoife has now set a standard for other girls to follow and the Ballymoney club are delighted that they now have a female champion to also share the limelight with Clough schoolboy flyer Aaron Swan.
Ballymoney CC girls Ellen McAree, Aoife Cameron Mitchell and Caitie O'Hagan are also on the 2020 Irish girls squad in special road, off-road and track preparation for the build up to world events and eventually the Olympics. Exiting times are ahead for the girls and they will be supported by the others at Ballymoney Cycling Club.
Well done Aaron!
BCC favourite son Aaron Swan received the Northern Ireland Road champion, Ulster Road Race champion, Ulster Time Trial champion, Ulster Mountain Bike champion, Ulster Cyclo-Cross champion and Ulster Cyclo-Cross League champion awards on Saturday night.
Aaron also received a Special Award forAchievements in 2011 from BCC Chairman Charlie Dickson and PRO Maurice McAllister at the Ballymoney Cycling Club's own awards recently.
All this follows a year when Aaron has been dominant in his age groups and showing that he is Ireland's best. So much so that he is now being looked after by a professional coach and is being groomed for a career in his chosen sport. Plans are also in place to link him up with a team in France once the time is felt right for his development.

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