WHAT ARE THE MIGHTY 11s?
The Mighty 11’s Junior Test Team is a cultural exchange with BMX-NSW. The Trans Tasman series is raced at the BMXNZ North Island Titles and the Australian Series held at a NSW BMX event.
The team consists of 4 male & 4 female riders. The team selection is open to all riders who will be 11 years old on the 30th of June of the year of selection for the Australian event and 11 years old on the 31st December of the year of selection for the New Zealand event.
This is a BMXNZ funded trip with a portioned financial input by the selected riders families. BMXNZ also allocate a coach & team manger to the squad.To be selected to represent New Zealand is one of the greatest honours in any sport. BMX has that opportunity at this very early stage in our sport & many of the sports great riders have been Mighty 11s.
The Mighty 11s process is also a great start to building an individual identity & independence for the riders, who will learn to make decisions for the team & learn to look after each other as they travel without parents or guardians, sometimes for the first time. The Team Management is there to guide & help them grow as riders & as people.
HISTORY OF THE MIGHTY ELEVENS
The mighty 11s is a international BMX competition between Australia & New Zealand. But it started at the Ipswich BMX club in Brisbane, Australia.
Some 30 years ago, a rider from the Ipswich club was tragically killed in a car accident. His mother gave the club a trophy to be used in his memory. The committee at the time discussed what to do with it & decided to hold a “invitation” meeting for a junior class, as the rider that the trophy honoured was eleven at the time of the accident. During the discussion about events options & guidelines, one committee member was reported to have said “it can’t be in June, my son will be twelve? So 3 ages we put in a hat & one was drawn out, thus was the birth of the “Mighty Elevens”.
Out of a close friendship between New Zealand’s Errol Nelson & Neville Gray, the president of the Ipswich BMX Club, a vision was built out of their love of BMX for a Trans-Tasman BMX exchange. Their vision was a cultural exchange trip along with BMX racing, which they were truly passionate about. The exchange was timed to happen with the Mighty Eleven meeting, which then combined to be the Mighty Elevens Title.
The cultural exchange was to give kids a look into differing cultures & environments to lean & grow their outlooks. The teams are billeted with local families too, so parents are not involved in anything other than seeing the kids at the track during racing.
So every June & October Labour Day weekend, riders from all over Australia & New Zealand are invited to compete against each other to establish the “Mighty Eleven” for that year.
So there are two parts of the “Mighty Eleven” experience. Firstly is to trail for the Mighty Elevens Test Team & if successful race against the Australians for the “Mighty Eleven Trans-Tasman Trophy”. Secondly is for all eleven year olds boys & girls to race in the “Mighty Elevens Special Class” to establish the overall “Mighty Eleven” rider.
It is an amazing experience & one to aim towards if you are coming through the younger age groups OR if you are the right age to sign up to the trial & give it a go.
The Mighty Elevens Trial at the BMXNZ Nationals is open to ANY rider who is 11years old on the 3oth of June of that year.
Mighty 11’s trials are also held at pre-norths approximately one month before the North Island Titles. Te be eligible for that trial, the rider must be 11 years old on the 31st of December of that year.
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