Queensburgh BMX Club’s pint-sized, Rylee (8) heads off to World champs in Belgium

QUEENSBURGH BMX Club’s Rylee van Heerden is living proof that dynamite comes in small packages.

At the tender age of eight, she is excited to head to the World BMX Championship, better known as ‘the Worlds’ where she will be competing against other top riders in her class.

The aim of racing at Worlds is to obtain a World number, and there are only eight numbers up for grabs.  The lower the number the better.  Looking at previous world championships, she can expect to fight it out with the best 40 eight-year-old girls in the world for one of those numbers.

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Rylee, who began riding after going to watch a race at Queensburgh BMX Club one Sunday and realising it might be just the thing for her, told the Queensburgh News in an exclusive interview that while she is excited about the opportunity to go to Worlds, she is also a little scared at the prospect of having to finish in the top eight to win her World Number.

“I really want to do well at Worlds and come back with a World number. I will have to race against the best 40 to 50 girls in the world and there are only 8 World numbers, so I have to finish in the top eight,” she said.

Rylee who is, by all accounts like any other young girl, did admit that her BMX riding tends to take up a lot of her spare time. “Because I train six days a week I don’t really have time for friends outside BMX. My friends at school like me racing and I always take the medals I win to school to show them,” she said.

Asked if she has any special trinkets or items of clothing she always wears when she races she quickly mentioned her ‘lucky socks’.

“I have a pair of lucky socks that I wear. My coach, Dylan Eggar and I both wear black earrings when we race. He bought me mine. We are both going to wear them to Worlds as he is also going to Worlds, racing in the Elite class.”

Locally, she is competing in a class above her age group. “In KZN there is no competition for me in the eight-year-old class and I have to race in the girls’ nine to 10-year-old class. In that class, there is only one 10-year-old girl, Alexandra Santos, from PMB BMX Club that can beat me, but I am really working hard to catch her,” she smiled, when asked who her greatest nemesis on the track is at present.

For Rylee, BMX racing is more than just a hobby. “I want to keep on racing BMX for as long as I can. If I really do well I can maybe one day get a bursary to study overseas,” she said.

At the competition, which will take place in Belgium later this year, Rylee will compete in two classes. Her first race will be in the girls 12 and under Junior Cruiser class.

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In this class, the bicycles have 24-inch wheels compared to the 20-inch wheels she normally races. She doesn’t expect to do too much in that first race, however, it will give her more track time to prepare for her main race the next day.

Rylee has the attention of not just one, but two coaches. Christopher Axford trains her on a Wednesday evening and her main coach, Dylan Eggar, trains her the rest of the time.

Dylan, also from Queensburgh BMX Club, is one of South Africa’s top BMX riders who qualified for the Elite class at Worlds. He has put her on an intense training schedule for the next two and a half months to prepare her for the task ahead.

Lupus awareness

Rylee has chosen to promote and create awareness for the often misdiagnosed chronic autoimmune disease, Lupus, to honour more than five million people living with the illness. Rylee hopes to shed light on the disease at World Champs by wearing the Lupus colours.

For Rylee to be able to make her plan to compete at Worlds a reality, she needs financial support.

Jolene van Heerden, speaking on behalf of Rylee’s family said the costs of flights, accommodation, gear like helmets and bike bags and other accessories needed to travel as well as the entrance fees to the competition itself adds up to more than R32 000.

“I believe anything is possible. This is a fantastic opportunity for her to compete against the best in the world. I want to make sure her dream is realised!” said Jolene.

“Rylee is ambitious and determined,” she said adding that her parents are fully supportive of her BMX racing. “Their wish is for her to reach her full potential. They are so proud of her.”

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Jolene said the whole Queensburgh BMX club family is behind their eight-year-old girl wonder. “Competing in a male-dominated sport makes her even more determined and focused. She wants to inspire other girls. Rylee wants to motivate and inspire all girls to follow their dreams. She wants to be an example to other girls that they too can participate in any sport.”

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