At present, five Satellite Centres - in Japan, Korea, South Africa, India and Portugal - gravitate around the UCI WCC, assisting in the development of athletes, mechanics and coaches through regional programmes and educational activities.
In early June, the UCI Management Committee approved the expansion of the network of satellites and the establishment of clearer guidelines concerning their role. The guidelines will initially help determine whether a training structure has the necessary assets to be labelled a UCI WCC Satellite Centre, then whether it can be considered a Continental Satellite or rather a Regional Development Satellite.
The guidelines – which will be used to assess both existing and candidate Satellite Centres - will include areas such as funding, governance structure, human resources, facilities, geographic reach, cycling discipline focus, and level of support from the National Federation (NF) and Continental Confederation.
From September this year, the UCI WCC will appoint a new staff member who will deal with requests (already numerous) to become a Satellite Centre, work directly with each of them, monitor their activities, create a stronger network with dynamic exchanges of information, and ensure they are aligned with the UCI World Cycling Centre’s mission and vision.
Candidate satellites will be required to fill out an application form which can be uploaded here. The next step – for applications of interest – will be discussions with a Satellite Selection Committee. If fruitful, these discussions could lead to recommendations to the UCI World Cycling Centre Executive and the UCI Management Committee with a view to the possible signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.
“The satellite model being one of my first mandates when I started in my position in January of 2022, I am very happy that this reform was approved by the UCI Management Committee in June,” said UCI WCC Director Jacques Landry. “Now we will be able to build a stronger and broader network of satellites that will continue to work in concert with the UCI WCC to increase the development of cyclists, coaches and mechanics predominantly coming from emerging nations.”
UCI President David Lappartient said: “Our UCI WCC Satellite Centres are a key part of developing our sport worldwide, and our existing satellites have done great work training cyclists, coaches and mechanics. The time has come to broaden our global reach and it is for this reason that I am delighted that we will now strengthen and expand this network to provide even more opportunities in all regions of the world.”
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