USA BMX Celebrates the Close of a Successful 2022 Season

Jan 06, 2023

Written by Bart de Jong

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Between the National Racing Series, the National Freestyle Series, the STACYC World Championship Series, the build of the new Tulsa-based USA BMX Headquarters - Hardesty National BMX Stadium, the launch of ABA ETHOS, and the significant growth of the USA BMX Foundation, the American Bicycle Association family of organizations successfully closes 2022 season. “2022 will go down in the BMX history books as possibly the most important year we have had in Tulsa,” said Shane Fernandez, USA BMX President. “Twenty-five consecutive years the Grands has been hosted in this community coupled with the first year the USA BMX headquarters has been open and hosting events, we have found our home for the sport of BMX. Since opening our HQ in February, we have seen more than 40,000 visitors, hosted the first foundation mentoring program, welcomed thousands of middle school youth for spring and summer camps, and hosted the first Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at its new home. We are grateful to Tulsa for supporting USA BMX’s vision of growing the sport of BMX while using education, bikes, and mentoring programs to reach those who need it most.”

2022 USA BMX National Series

For the 2022 season, USA BMX paralleled the previous year of event attendance and economic impact on the 28-event series. From coast to coast, 23 states hosted a national event, and as we look to 2023, USA BMX currently has 29 National events planned across the U.S.

The season concluded with the Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the week of Thanksgiving, for a 25th consecutive year. The 2022 National Champions included Alise Willoughby (Pro Women), Joris Daudet (Pro Men), Barry Nobles (Vet Pro), Lily Ashley (Girl Cruiser), Cody Young (Cruiser), Ava Corley (Amateur Girl), Drew Polk (Amateur Boy), Nic Long (2022 Golden Crank Pro), Nick Adams (2022 Rookie Pro), and National #1 Factory Team Full Tilt for a fifth consecutive team. With another 1% increase in attendance, there is no question why racers from around the world call it the Greatest Race On Earth. With 46 states and 20 countries represented, USA BMX welcomed more than 3700 participants at this year’s Grand Nationals.

2022 USA BMX STACYC World Championship Series

In its second full year of existence, the STACYC World Series captured the dreams of children three to seven, racing their hearts out on the popular Stacyc Stability Cycles. With over 200 entries across the nation at eight series stops, champions were crowned in all six classes for the 3rd time in history. The USA BMX and STACYC partnership is designed to give kids ages three to seven a chance to ride on their STACYC bikes (rather than traditional BMX bikes) at USA BMX facilities.

USA BMX Foundation

With the mission statement of building confidence in youth through STEAM in unison with the hands-on experience of cycling instilling teamwork, exploration, mobility, discovery, and physical fitness for life, the USA BMX Foundation kicked off 2022 with the inaugural RISE (Resiliency, Inclusion, Social-Awareness, and Education) program. The class of 20 youth started and finished each session on their bicycles at the USA BMX National Headquarters while guided and coached by Olympians and Pro BMX athletes. Through this journey, USA BMX hoped to increase the youth’s interest in STEAM and offer interested participants the opportunity to elevate their skills in BMX and create new circles of influence. Four riders were selected based on participation and staff observation to compete in the 2022 Grand Nationals in Tulsa.

USA BMX Freestyle

In 2022, USA BMX Freestyle successfully organized an eight-stop series that crowned nine National and 124 State Champions. In addition, the series saw the participation of international riders increase by 200%, with Argentina, France, Australia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, England, and Canada represented.

In 2022, two-thirds of the 50 states were represented at the state level for digital events and the national level LIVE for in-person events. The National event participants grew by 32% across the expanded series. The USA BMX Freestyle social media following grew by more than 150% with the help of new event-edited videos, rider interviews, and endemic brand features being added as content.

The inaugural series launched in 2020 as a grassroots initiative with video submissions and virtual judging to showcase the up-and-coming and artistic talent that represents BMX Freestyle.

USA BMX Tulsa Headquarters

The new USA BMX Headquarters moved to the Greenwood District in Tulsa in February 2022. The Tulsa Sports Commission, Nabholz Construction, Todd Architecture, Wallace Engineering, and the City of Tulsa worked together to design and build the world’s most complete and advanced BMX facility. The facility is the depth of two football fields and seats up to 2,000 people. Since February, the headquarters has welcomed more than 40,000 visitors and dozens of events, including the USA BMX Legacy Nationals, the Oklahoma State Championship, STACYC World Championships, Race for Life Supporting Leukemia Research, the USA BMX Vintage Nationals, the 2022 National BMX Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, the RISE Program fostering underserved youth in surrounding communities, the inaugural USA BMX Foundation Gala, and Summer Camps and STEAM Educational programs hosting 4,000 local middle school students.

ABA ETHOS

ABA Ethos was created to assist and empower a community by making its vision a reality. ABA facilitates the entire process so the clients can focus on providing cycling access and opportunity through activating multiple biking disciplines. The team acts on the client’s behalf to orchestrate and provide professional strategies and tactics for assembling the best industry teams and streamlining large-scale developments' multiple efforts. The newly-launched operation is currently engaged with more than ten municipalities and conversations regarding new facilities.

Through the combined efforts of ABA Ethos, USA BMX, and the USA BMX Foundation, programming was the primary catalyst and deciding factor for the $4.7 Million EDA Grant for Morgantown, WV.