Nicky Hawker was a keen horse rider before her sons started riding BMX. Cycling soon became her passion, which was recognised when she won the Brian Cossavella Trophy, for services to event promotion, at British Cycling’s 2015 Annual Awards Dinner.
“I got into the sport when my sons started riding BMX. I was at an event with my sons and was asked if I could be one of the officials on the finish line and it snowballed from there.”
Nikki has never looked back and now works across a wide range of BMX activity.
“I have run the North West region of BMX for the last seven years and I’m currently in my fourth year of working on the National BMX Series. I officiated at the BMX World Championships when they came to Birmingham in 2012 and I also sit on the BMX National Series Working Group. It can be hard work at times but it’s great fun and really rewarding.”
“I started out as a Mum who just wanted to get a bit more involved in the sport that my children participated in. I think a lot of parents and family members would get more involved in the sport if they knew the opportunities available to them. Even though my sons no longer need me to ferry them about to races I am more involved in the sport now than ever before!”
Although Nikki thinks more could still be done she is keen to highlight that more and more women are getting involved in cycling behind the scenes.
“I’ll be leading a team of 21 officials at the Scottish National BMX Championships with 13 of them women. It just shows that there is a real appetite from women to get involved. I know a lot of young women who are doing their qualifications which is great for the future and I would urge anyone with an interest in the sport to get involved.”
#WeRide Week
Following a fantastic Women’s Tour, British Cycling is delighted to launch #WeRide week, an initiative highlighting the vast range of opportunities available to women who wish to get involved in the sport.
British Cycling’s #WeRide strategy was launched in March 2013 with the target of getting one million more women cycling regularly by 2020. A two year update published earlier this month showed that the strategy is on track with 254,000 more women now cycling, but with work still to be done to reach the one million target.
There are a number of inspirational women already out there working and taking part in the sport and we’ll be highlighting some of those case studies throughout the week.
- Caroline Foreman – Getting more women cycling more often
- Yvonne Mills – Getting more women running the sport
- Rachel Aldred – Campaigning and commuting for safer roads
- Nicky Hawker – Creating opportunities to ride and race
- Marian Lauder/Alex Russell - More women getting involved in governing the sport
- Aileen Brown – Increasing female membership
- Monica Eden – Creating a pathway that keeps women engaged
British Cycling also has a number of activities taking place during #WeRide week for any women looking to take their first steps into the sport, whether someone wants to race, coach, volunteer or get involved in race organisation - check them out here.
