About KellCat Devo
KellCat Devo, a Massachusetts 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a junior development mountain bike race team for girls. The KellCat Devo mission is “to promote the sport of mountain biking and empower women of all ages to become healthy, life-long cyclists.”
First and foremost, we believe that happy racers go faster and as such, good mental health practices are a pillar of our team. Second, we believe in sustainable growth and development, which includes healthy daily habits from training, to nourishing meals, to high quality rest and recovery. Third, we believe that we are stronger together and we can all learn from each other.
Our goal is to help develop high-performing female student-athletes by giving them access to resources that promote good mental health, physical health, and overall wellness. The team will provide access to specialists such as those listed below, to help our Devo team members reach their goals:
Sports Psychologist
Sports Dietician
Strength & Conditioning Coach
Cycling Coach
Mentor
Our season begins with defining goals and a strategy for working toward achieving them. We focus primarily on process oriented goals rather than results oriented goals, to help us create an environment of growth and progress. The team’s founder, Kelly Catale, provides mentorship to each of the girls based on her experience racing at the elite level and having participated in competitive sports when she was in middle and high school.
While we are technically a race team, KellCat Devo is also heavily focused on community engagement and sustainability. We will be hosting community events throughout the year and participating in race and non-race events in the Northeast. Catch our racers on the New England Youth Cycling (NEYC) races this Spring!
In it’s first year, KellCat Devo is laying the foundation for incredible growth in the coming years. We are excited to see how KellCat Devo will help grow youth girls’ mountain biking in New England!
Redefining “Junior Development”
The “More Than Fast” Approach
There are many flavors of junior development mountain bike programs across the globe. Some aim to teach young riders how to have fun on their mountain bike to enable a life of cycling; these programs promote a "club" environment that likely does not involve racing. On the other end of the spectrum are programs that engrain elite-level training habits into young athletes to prepare them for the demands of professional competition; these programs are what many cycling purists call "junior development" programs because they are developing juniors into professionals.
Programs that focus primarily on the trajectory to professional racing often require athletes to commit themselves fully to the sport in order to be part of the team. In the cases where full specialization is not required, the time commitment demands of racing and training almost deem it necessary. This type of program environment can cause a lot of tension in a junior athlete's life because it requires sacrificing potential core experiences for teenagers, like fostering friendships, attending dances, participating in non-sports clubs, or even trying other sports. Pair all of that with changing bodies and hormones for teenage girls, and it's no wonder why there is such a high rate of attrition for junior female mountain bike racers.
At KellCat Devo, we value variety and we know that diversifying interests can help prevent burnout at a young age. We value education first, which means school is our number one priority. If someone on our team wants to be a kicker for their high school football team, we cheer them on. If someone wants to be part of their local theater production, we celebrate it. We want cycling to be one piece of the much larger puzzle that is our junior athletes' lives. Ultimately, we believe all KellCat Devo members should be “more than fast”.
Let's do a thought exercise: Imagine you spend your entire childhood dedicating all of your energy and time to competing in one sport. You become strong (maybe even one of the best!), but you have no other facets of life by which you can define your self-worth. Eventually, you associate your identity with this one sport and your performance with your self-worth. You get recruited for a collegiate team and you feel fulfilled, like you're on the right path in your athletic career. Now, imagine you get severely injured at the start of your freshman year and you can no longer perform that sport at that same level (not just temporarily, but you can never get back to that level again). What happens now? Specializing so early in life means you don't have other avenues to explore; starting something requires you to be a beginner again, which is frustrating for someone who has become so strong in their sport. You have to reinvent yourself, which feels more daunting than just quitting entirely.
That "imaginary" scenario is more real than you might think. KellCat Devo founder, Kelly, experienced this exact situation as a runner who suffered such a severe injury her freshman year in college that she could never run competitively again. She is not alone. Many female athletes who are lucky enough to survive competitive sports in high school end up meeting the end of their athletic careers in college. Reasons for attrition might be injury, but it could also be burnout or a desire to explore other parts of life that have been ignored for so long.
At KellCat Devo, we believe in a healthy blend of education, extracurricular activities, and sports. We believe that strong athletic performance comes from athletes who know their self-worth comes from within rather than from results. We believe in creating a healthy, supportive space where girls who are inherently competitive don’t need to cultivate a “win at all costs” mindset to be taken seriously as a racer. Instead, we empower girls to cultivate a “more than fast” mindset that allows them to grow, explore their interests, and be enthusiastic and valuable members of their community.
We are redefining "junior development" to mean helping a young racer find a life blend that enables them to love racing for as long as possible. A happy racer is faster and, more importantly, is more likely to help pass on their joy to the next generation of female racers. Girls who see their peers as happy racers are more likely to stick with the sport, which is how it will grow over time.
Want to Support KellCat Devo?
KellCat Devo is a 510(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so your donations are tax deductible. You can donate online by clicking the button below to access our donation page.