March 8, 2008 (Toronto, ON) – The Ontario Cycling Association (OCA) held their Annual General Meeting on Saturday during the 2008 Toronto Bike Show which takes place from March 7-9 this snowy weekend at the Direct Energy Building at the CNE. We caught up with OCA President Duncan Vipond for his comments on the OCA’s progress and the AGM.

“It was a successful year for the OCA,” said Vipond. “We’re financially solvent, our programs ran well and continue going forward. In our High Performance division we doubled the number of top-10 results at all National Championships from 66 in 2006 to 120 in 2007.”

A big focus for the OCA is the Canada Summer Games in 2009 in PEI. “Through the Quest for Gold program we receive funding for 13 athletes and coaching and we’re channeling some of the resources toward athlete development for the 2009 Canada Summer Games,” added Vipond. “We’d like to see continued growth in several sectors including officials development, Can-Bike programs and grass roots initiatives such as the Tour of University Heights.”

The OCA’s on-line registration program is now working very smoothly and members attending the show were able to sign up for 2008 in less than 10 minutes. According to Vipond membership was up in 2007 from 2006 with the most gains seen in track, BMX and cyclocross but “…it’s too early to comment on 2008,” said Vipond.

When asked what area of the OCA needs the most improvement Vipond commented,”I’d like to see better attendance by the memebership at our AGM. I was new to the position of president last year so I’m happy to have gained a better perspective on things to help us better achieve our mandate. We’ve got a good crew and I hope we can deliver better services for our members, increased athlete development, and more support for our elite athletes.”