Ed Fischer Receives NICA QBP Community Impact Award

Ed Fischer of Camas Bikes with co-award recipient Mike Sinyard, Founder & CEO of Specialized

We are very proud of Ed Fischer, who this past weekend ventured down to Specialized Headquarters in Northern California to receive the QBP Community Impact Award from NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association). 

Ed has been instrumental in bringing High School Mountain Biking and the Washington League to our communities in Southwest Washington. In its first year, Ed was the only representative from Southwest Washington to attend the Washington League Summit in Seattle. It was at that time he became determined to bring the league into our community, as the majority of the teams were generally located in the Greater Seattle Area. That first year he worked tirelessly with a number of tremendous volunteers to establish a composite high school team. That team competed very strong and took 2nd overall for the season. The next year he was able to rally more volunteers in the region and bring in two more teams. While we were able to establish small clubs in the local high schools, the greater impact has been in the non-traditional high schools and home schools that have no formal sports programs. This provides those students with the opportunity to participate in an athletic program that might not otherwise. Working with local businesses, such as Washougal Motorcross Park who agreed to generously sponsor their incredible venue allowing us to bring an additional race to Southern Washington. Having a local race provided an opportunity for others not able to travel to Seattle, a chance to see what High School Mountain Biking is all about. All of this of course would not have been possible on his own, he had the help and support of so many amazing volunteers within our community; Dave Webb, Bill Waring, Scott Trautman, Sean Vergillo and Kevin Brown just to name a few. Camas Bike and Sport is passionate about using our shop as a tool to foster the growth of cycling for this generation and the next. 

We are very proud of the work that has been done thus far, but know that we have a lot more to do. The season is just getting started for the 2013 season. The league is now under a new structure with the Evergreen Mountain Biking Association which now allows school aged students 7 grade & up the opportunity to complete. We have formed two composite teams here in the Camas/Washougal area for middle school and high school. If you are interested in learning more please contact us as the 2013 season is starting soon.