Regional sports complexes are commonplace in the USA: they’re those giant parks with four baseball fields, six soccer fields, and pickleball and tennis courts. They host tournaments, with teams traveling from all over the region (hinting at the name) to participate.
Now, thanks to the advocacy of a middle school science teacher, students, and a trail organization, one of these parks in Madison County, Kentucky, will host a different type of team. NICA athletes will soon be racing on six miles of singletrack at the Richmond Regional Sports Complex.
Mountain biking in eastern Kentucky
For a long time, trail systems in eastern Kentucky were somewhat sparse, but the Bluegrass Chapter of the Kentucky Mountain Bike Association (KYMBA) is changing that. KYMBA Bluegrass currently oversees seven trail systems across five counties. However, that trail system number will soon jump to eight with the addition of the MadCATR trails at the Richmond Regional Sports Complex.
“We’re kind of turning a corner now into [more of] an advocacy organization,” Jon Strom, the President of KYMBA Bluegrass, told us. “We want to come in and explain to a city why [trails] are a good idea. We’ve done that with Richmond here.”
But Strom was quick to point out the work of one board member in particular, Amy Poynter. Poynter teaches eighth-grade science and serves as the team director for the Madison County Mad Hatters, one of the local NICA teams. Poynter was the MadCATR “trail champion,” the “squeaky wheel” needed to get the project over the line.
Simply put, Richmond’s first trail system may not exist without her.
A new regional sports complex
The Richmond Regional Sports Complex has been in the works for a handful of years. The city of Richmond purchased the nearly 300 acres of land before the pandemic, with plans for multiple sports fields and other amenities.
“It’s a 280-acre park with eight soccer fields, a champion-style football field, like 16 pickleball courts,” along with an array of tennis courts, Poynter told us. “A lot is going on.”
Poynter first brought up the idea of mountain bike trails with parks and city officials shortly after the land was purchased. Initially, trails were well received, and early drawings of the park included a perimeter trail. However, as time passed, any mention of trails dropped from the plans as construction phases crept closer.
When this happened, Poynter sounded the alarm. Before construction began, her NICA team showed up at the City Council meeting to discuss the park.
Like many places around the country, middle and high school mountain bike racing is booming in Richmond. NICA launched in Kentucky in 2019 with a Madison County team. Seven other teams formed a few years later.
This year, Poynter said the NICA program will have 21 teams. Her team, the Madison County Mad Hatters, expects to have over 30 student-athletes. During their first season a few years ago, the team only had three.
Wearing their blue and orange jerseys, the Mad Hatters took their seats at the council meeting, waiting for their turn to speak. Several students, including Poynter’s son, spoke about the importance of mountain biking and NICA in their lives.
“I don’t think that we had any shot of growing the sport like we are in Kentucky without this youth movement coming up,” Strom shared.
He was right: Richmond was sold on NICA. After the City Council meeting, the mayor of Richmond informed Poynter that mountain bike trails were back in the park’s plan.
The MadCATR Loop would be Richmond’s first venture into mountain biking trails. The city was obviously impressed by the NICA athletes’ advocacy. However, Richmond also saw the positive economic impact trails can bring to a community.
Strom, who is also a board member for Kentucky’s Interscholastic Cycling League, had economic data to back up claims. He shared that NICA events and races easily brought hundreds of thousands of dollars to communities.
And then there were the grants. Poynter searched for different grants they could apply for and was awarded a few, including the Shimano Trail Born grant. Along with Shimano’s funding, KYMBA Bluegrass also received grants from IMBA and SRAM for the project. The funding helped demonstrate to the city the seriousness of the trail organization’s investment in the community.
Building a trail for NICA races, but also for every other day of the year
With the MadCATR trails approved and funded, the new trail system would need to take on two major tasks. First, it would need a NICA-ready race course. Second, it would need to be a trail system the Richmond community would enjoy for every non-race day of the year.
As you might imagine, there are particular trail requirements for a trail system to host a NICA race, such as optional lines and go-arounds. But, as Poynter explained, there are quite a few requirements that don’t have to do with the trails.
“Are there enough parking spots? Where’s the closest hospital? Where are the evacuation points—that kind of thing,” she explained. There is also the question of how much impact hosting a NICA race will have. Will streets need to close? Will access to certain park areas be blocked?
This was something KYMBA Bluegrass was able to work out with the MadCATR trail builder, Gravity 153. Because the expectations for the trails were so clearly defined, KYMBA Bluegrass, the city of Richmond, and NICA worked together effectively to design the MadCATR system to meet each party’s needs.
And Gravity 153 was happy to oblige.
The result is over six miles of trails, with over four miles of that intended as the NICA racing loop. All the mileage consists of beginner and intermediate trails, with roughly 400 feet of elevation change throughout the system.
“We’ve got some good climbs,” Strom told us. “We’ve got some really fun, flowy sections with alternate lines throughout there, so we can have a different experience for different riders.”
MadCATR will also include features, such as berms, jumps, and drops. KYMBA Bluegrass is even anticipating future phases, saying there is room for a skills area or a pump track. This is a maybe, but their fingers are crossed.
Setting a standard
“We’re kind of growing a reputation right now and getting lots of calls from communities who want to put a NICA program in, which is the appeal of this whole project,” Strom said.
These sports complexes are dotted across the country, many of them with ample space. Strom and Poynter see what is happening in Richmond as a replicable project and an opportunity for communities without trails to add a trail system easily.
The Richmond Regional Sports Complex is expected to open later this fall. When it does, the MadCATR trails will also open.
As for the Madison County Mad Hatters, they anticipate their first race at the new trails in 2027.
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