Interbike 2018

Austin McInerny
President
NICA


Austin McInerny is the President of NICA. In 2004, Austin began volunteering as a coach for the Berkeley High School Mountain Bike Team. As a long time cyclist himself, Austin knew the health benefits and comradery that the mountain bike community could bring to a student-athlete cycling club. However, what he wasn't prepared for was the positive and profound impact that cycling had on his student-athletes’ complete well-being - their confidence, their passion for the outdoors and their academic achievements. After more than seven years of coaching the Berkeley High School Mountain Bike Team, Austin decided to put his career in natural resource management and public policy mediation on hold for the opportunity to become the president of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association “NICA” in late 2012. Since then, he has helped scale NICA into the largest youth mountain biking organization in the United States. He has transformed the NICA program from one that is race focused to a national nonprofit dedicated to youth development encompassing the values of inclusivity, equality and strong mind, body, and character for all student-athletes. Since late 2009, more than 30,000 student-athletes and 10,000 adult coaches nationwide have participated in the program, and NICA continues to have year-to-year growth of more than 35%. NICA is presently operating in twenty-two states with three new regional leagues being added in 2019. Austin believes immensely in the power of cycling to transform the lives of individuals and the culture of entire communities. He and his wife Celeste are actively involved in the San Francisco Bay Area cycling community and can often be seen touring the backroads or riding the trails or commuting to work or out for an evening of fun on their bikes. Austin holds a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz and an MRP from Cornell University.

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