TREXLERTOWN, Pa. – The Valley Preferred Cycling Center is heading into June with a larger staff.
On Tuesday, Executive Director Marty Nothstein announced the addition of Chris Gill as Interim Community Programs Manager, beefing up the staff heading into the first night of the World Series of Bicycling this Friday night. Gill will oversee all of VPCC’s community programs as well as the First Niagara Masters & Rookies racing series. Additionally, Gill will assist Nothstein in other racing related areas.
“Chris brings a tremendous amount of talent and enthusiasm to our team,” Nothstein said. “Being a certified UCI coach, he can teach so much to our current staff of Olympic-caliber coaches and make a big impact on our growing community programs. Chris has a lot of experience as a rider, a coach, and an administrator in the sport of cycling. I think mixing that experience with his love for T-town is going to allow him to bring our programs to a whole new level.”
Gill comes to T-town from Trinidad and Tobago, but he is no stranger to the Concrete Crater. He has been involved in cycling since 1980 in various roles and has coached during multiple summers at VPCC. He started out as a rider, winning the Trinidad national championship. Gill then moved on to coaching and serving as an administrator as he was the national manager and president of the Trinidad Cycling Federation.
Gill has coached multiple champions, many of whom have called T-town home, including Marloe Rodman from Jamaica.
“I have a deep passion for cycling and the velodrome,” Gill said. “I desire to be a part of an organization like this one that changes lives in the Lehigh Valley.”
Gill has a strong resume he is bringing with him, including being a UCI certified coach as he graduated from the UCI World Cycling Centre in Switzerland in 2010 after completing the two-month course.
Taking what he did in his previous stops, Gill looks to take a different approach to coaching.
“In the Caribbean, we worked on mentality,” he said. “We never had enough equipment. I made changes to the way programs were written and better use of sports science to better the riders’ careers.”
One of the first initiatives of Gill’s is to increase the enthusiasm of the participants in the community programs. The VPCC is kickstarting a social media campaign using #ImNext where young riders are encouraged to take photos of themselves while at practices, between races, or just trackside with that hashtag, showing that they are the next Olympian in the making.
Off the track, Gill is married and has four children. He can be reached at info@thevelodrome.com.
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Tyler Trumbauer
PR/Communications Assistant
Valley Preferred Cycling Center
