Big crew of BMXers heading to world champs

BALLARAT Sebastopol BMX Club riders are turning out in force at this month’s world championships in Brisbane.

While Ballarat representation in past editions of the UCI BMX Racing World Championships has been limited to just one or a few riders – most noticeably 2024 junior men’s world champion Josh Jolly – more than a dozen are taking on the world’s best at the Sleeman Sports Complex between 16 and 25 July.

Among them are father and son duo Simon and Murphy Cooper.

Simon, who is gearing up for his second world championships after representing Australia in 2022 in France, said the high number of Ballarat competitors was a source of pride around the club.

“It’s pretty solid numbers for a regional club; normally the metro clubs have got big numbers, considering they probably have 300-odd members,” he said.

“They might sneak 20 or 30 (riders) in.

“But for us, to have a good dozen or so in is a pretty awesome effort.”

Cooper said rules pertaining to the number of host nation riders allowed to compete at world championships were behind the club’s strong presence.

“What happens is, the host country gets up to 32 riders per age group,” he said.

“So if you are into your racing, but your not quite at the pointy end of the field, you get a bit of a chance.

“In years past, we’d have three or four riders maximum go.

“It’s obviously an expensive sport and travelling all the way across the US and France and everywhere else adds up after a while, so we are very blessed to have it only 18 hours up the road.”

 

For Cooper, the thrill of competing in his second world championships has been magnified by getting to do it alongside Murphy.

His 2022 qualification remarkably came just 18 months after he took up the sport as a 41-year-old during COVID as a means to relieve boredom and keep fit.

“The young fellow and I pretty much started at the same time and because there wasn’t heaps of people out and about travelling around racing, it gave me a unique chance to qualify for worlds,” he said.

“I thought, I might as well have a crack. But I only went by myself.

“You couldn’t do much during COVID, so we took Murphy out to the pump track and bumped into a few kids.

“They told us there was a BMX club out at Sebas, and to bring him out there and have a go; he goes all right.

“We took him out there, got him some coaching and after two months we started cottoning on to the fact there were a few dads out there riding with their kids.

“I went on the hunt on Marketplace for a second-hand bike and found one and took it up.”

The rest they would say is history – were it not for a few bumps, spills and broken bones along the way.

“I literally crashed on the first night at training and broke my collarbone on the first jump I went over,” Cooper said.

“But here I am six years latter still living and breathing it.”

Son Murphy has quickly established himself among the top competitors nationally in his class, ranked third in Australia following a career-high ranking of two.

He has finished on the podium in each of the last three years at nationals.

The Coopers will not be the only dual members of a family from the Ballarat club competing at worlds.

Brothers Henry and Lars Frazer will respectively compete in the 11-year-old boys 20-inch and 8-year-old boys 20-inch events.

The Coopers and Frazers are but four participants in a booming Ballarat BMX scene.

 

“Particularly in the last two or three months, we have had crazy number sprockets – kids 5, 6, 7 and 8 – rolling up to practice nights and training,” Simon Cooper said.

“It’s awesome as we have a good little bunch of younger blokes – 8 to 10 year-olds, who have been around a while – and it brings in more parents, which means more help and volunteers.

“It’s a real tight-knit community and growing, so it’s good for Ballarat.”

For all at the club, the feats of 2024 world junior champion Jolly serve as an inspiration.

The 20-year-old, who has relocated with his family to Brisbane, will head to the world championships in sparkling form, having only a month ago ticked off a long-awaited under-23 UCI BMX Racing World Cup round win in the Netherlands.

In an ominous sign of depth in the world under-23 ranks, Jolly’s round 4 winning time was faster than the elite men’s winning time set by Switzerland’s Loris Aeberhard.

Simon Cooper said while Jolly was light-heartedly now referred to as being ex-Ballarat, all at the club were proud of his exploits and would be cheering him on as he strives for gold in Brisbane.

“He’s an absolute role model and legend and he certainly put Ballarat BMX on the map,” he said.

“It would be great to see a few more young riders come through the ranks and reach his heights.”

The full list of Ballarat competitors also includes Samantha Lewis-Bedggood, Annika Ellis, Henry Frazer, Lars Frazer, Ida Ferguson, Jeremy Gamble, Charlie Kalm, Caylee McKee, Bill Phillips, Xavier Ryan and Indiana Shooter.