Obed Ruvogera, member of Team Rwanda Cycling
Sustainability is key to any successful effort that seeks to provide long-term solutions within developing nations. At 50 Mile Ride, we’re pleased that Team Rwanda Cycling is taking steps to ensure the Team continues long into the future. Obed Ruvogera, a member of Team Rwanda Cycling, is featured in this article written by Jock Boyer. Jonathan “Jock” Boyer is the coach of Team Rwanda Cycling. Jock was the first American to ride in the Tour de France in 1981. He came to Rwanda in 2006 as a guest of Tom Ritchey to assist with a local race. At that race they spotted talent and amazing potential in the local athletes, and in February 2007 Jock moved to Rwanda and has grown the program every year.
Jock’s article follows: As an athlete gets closer and closer to the “end” of his career the reoccurring thought of what to do after he can no longer be competitive gets more and more intense. Even from the start of the team my thoughts were always thinking of what the riders could do as they end their careers. My constant hope was that they would be the ones to replace myself, along with all those that have been part of setting up and keeping things going within Team Rwanda. We started helping the riders get their drivers licenses in the very beginning. I left it up to the motivated riders to sign up and do the driving classes and a few opted up on it. A driver’s license will assure them a job in this country no matter what happens to them.
More importantly though is their motivation to do something within the team. To have riders take over the positions of coaching, cooking, nutrition, massage, administration and mechanics would just strengthen the team and their position on the team. I cannot push them to do things that they are not drawn to so I let it happen naturally and leave opportunities open for them to take.
The first real evidence of this just happened when Kimberly was contacted by a Yoga instructor, Megan Leigh, from New York who was coming over to Musanze, our home town, to teach local women Yoga. Certified in both Yoga and massage, Megan reached out to us and asked if we would want her to teach our team Yoga? Kimberly had already started doing some Yoga within our stretching and core exercises right before dinner each night so this was a great opportunity for the boys to learn from an expert.
Obed practicing his yoga
From the first lessons it was evident that Obed was gifted not only in just doing the exercises but more importantly understanding their importance and teaching them to the others. Within a few days he was attending Megan’s 4 hr afternoon classes after our team rides. In the evenings Obed started teaching the class to the riders and within a week he was able to teach a full 1 hr class, something Megan took almost a year to be able to do! The next step was teaching Obed massage which Megan started before she returned to the states.
I then contacted one of our team masseurs, Line’, who I take to some of our international events and who has a clinic and cycling team in South Africa. I needed a place to send Obed to get more cycling specific massage training and experience. Line accepted immediately and said she could put him directly to work with riders and would even take him to the Cape Epic MTB race to work with her team.
With Obed and his growing passion for massage and Yoga we have the first of many riders who will be integrated into the team as they reach their “retirement” age from competition. Obed will set the example and will be the proof that a rider has an integral place on the team even when he is not racing. I will no longer have to hire outside help when Team Rwanda goes to International races. Obed, being a rider already knows what pains and fatigue a rider suffers from most so is the best possible choice as a masseur. Importantly too is the fact that he is Rwandan and there will be no language barrier in dealing with the riders. Obed will also be the best person to start training in country staff for this important element of sports. This is a significant breakthrough at Team Rwanda. Yes, it has taken time but the sustainability of the Team when we are gone is becoming more and more real.
The next important spots to fill are those of mechanics and coaching. Rafiki is already spending time with Maxime to get more hands on experience. Learning English is a priority before we can send some of the riders to get more vocational training. We have two English volunteers working at ISAE, the local university, who are teaching English to the team twice weekly. Two other volunteers, one from England who just arrived and one from the states are teaching more advanced English to smaller groups on the other nights.
We are at an exciting point with Team Rwanda; our future is really taking an active form. The more riders we get into the active workings of the team the more successful we will become.
By Jock Boyer, coach of Team Rwanda Cycling