USA BMX Celebrates the Close of the 2021 Season as the Largest and Most Successful in the History of the Sport

Jan 09, 2022

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 closes the 2021 season as the most successful year in the history of the BMX. “2021 will go down in the BMX history books as possibly the most significant in the history of the sport,” said Shane Fernandez, USA BMX President. "Racing hit

the highest participation levels of all time along with the largest membership base ever, while freestyle had an amazing second year, more than doubling in size. In addition, every program under the ABA umbrella sets new records for matrix measurement. With the Tulsa headquarters and Hardesty National BMX Stadium nearing completion and a 24th Grand Nationals becoming the largest BMX race ever held, we are closer to making Tulsa home of the sport of BMX.”

2021 USA BMX National Series

For the 2021 season, USA BMX shattered every previous record of event attendance and economic impact on the 28 event series. On average, participation increased by 25% above 2019, and the series included several new destinations and first-time hosts. From California to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin down to Florida, 20 states hosted a national event, and as we look to 2022, USA BMX currently has 29 National events planned across the U.S.

The season concluded with The Greatest Race On Earth in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the week of Thanksgiving, for a 24th consecutive year, becoming the largest BMX event ever hosted. The 2021 National Champions included Felicia Stancil (Pro Women), Joris Daudet (Pro Men), Jonathan Suarez (Vet Pro), Brooke Walski (Girl Cruiser), Greyson Sneed (Cruiser), Ava Corley (Amateur Girl), and Sean Day (Amateur Boy).

With 49 states and 20 different countries represented, USA BMX welcomed more than 3600 participants at this year’s Grand Nationals. For the first time at the Grands, USA BMX hosted the STACYC World Championship, where 32 young riders participated from 10 states. The USA BMX and STACYC partnership is designed to give kids ages three to seven the chance to ride on their STACYC bikes (rather than traditional BMX bikes) at USA BMX facilities.

USA BMX Foundation

Hands-on learning is something the USA BMX Foundation specializes in, and in 2019, the programming helped impact over 200,000 kids through bike-centric school activities. Their innovative curriculum included Track Modeling, a BMX STEM bike program, and the incentive-based Read to Ride program to keep kids engaged. In partnership with Mongoose, the plan is to extend these opportunities to even more children with additional programming for 2021 for grades one and two. This year at the Grand Nationals, USA BMX Foundation hosted an inaugural Thanksgiving fundraiser where the organization announced a new at-risk program, “Rise” that will launch this year.

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USA BMX Freestyle

The inaugural series launched last year as a grassroots initiative with video submissions and virtual judging for the up-and-coming, artistic talent that is BMX Freestyle. For 2021, USA BMX Freestyle successfully organized a six-stop series that crowned eight National and 68 State Champions.

The 2021 “Finals” event grew by 124% from 2020 on the participant level, and 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 USA BMX Freestyle membership grew by 418% in one year, while the social media following grew by 1100%. In addition to the successful event series, USA BMX Freestyle added key BMX content powerhouse Kyle Carlson - formerly of Vital BMX - to the Freestyle staff. "I’m committed to bringing the organization’s freestyle effort to the next level. I had the opportunity to connect and work closely with the crew over the past year and am inspired by how devoted they are to freestyle, even in these early stages. I look forward to matching their energy and doing what I do best under their banner for the foreseeable future.”

USA BMX Tulsa Headquarters

The new USA BMX Headquarters is moving from Arizona to the Greenwood District in Tulsa. The Tulsa Sports Commission, Nabholz Construction, Todd Architecture, Wallace Engineering, and the City of Tulsa have 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 will seat up to 2,000 people and host local, regional, and national races along with other events. The facility will open 25 jobs that will include marketing, branding, USA BMX Freestyle, USA BMX Foundation, BMX Hall of Fame, global programming, fabrication, and the architectural design portion of our National Track Development team. The facility programing and events will attract new thousands of new visitors generating millions in economic impact.

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 teams in the industry and streamlining the multiple efforts of large-scale developments. The newly-launched operation is currently engaged with more than 10 municipalities and conversations regarding new facilities.