2023 Changes to USA BMX / BMX Canada

Filed under General on November 16, 2022 | Comment(s)

As we near the end of the 2022 season and the annual USA BMX Grands, we are beyond thankful for the amazing year of riding, supporting the riders, and enjoying the camaraderie the events offer.  It was certainly another year of strangers becoming friends and friends becoming family as they traveled together and cheered for one, and all.  

The national champions will soon be crowned and the BMX world will be turning the page to 2023.  As we rapidly approach 2023, we have some exciting changes coming.  

New classes will make up the bulk of the modifications heading into next year, with two classes being added for females and another class for the males in BMX.

First up is the creation of 8 & Under Girls Cruiser, which will be followed by the 9-10 Girls Cruiser class. This is a change from 10 & Under Girls Cruiser, which has been around for over 20 years. Sticking with the ladies, we’ve also added a 51 & Over Expert Women class – which was previously capped at 41 & Over. The age groupings at the top end of Expert Women will now be 41-50 and 51 & Over.

For the Amateur Men, we’ve added a 56 & Over class for Novices, Intermediates and Experts with the former 51 & Over age grouping becoming 51-55 and 56 & Over. The 51 & Over Expert class has been one of the most exciting classes on the national circuit, as the first generation BMXers continue to race competitively well into their 50’s and 60’s. We think this could help more of those riders dust off their 20” bikes to hit the track, while also making another Novice entry point for riders 56 & Over (remember that Novice riders can compete on any size bike, provided they are on flat pedals).

On the moto building side of things, we listened to the Expert Women who wanted to make sure that if their class didn’t form – they would be moved to the men’s Intermediate class of THEIR age, not the youngest age of their Expert Women’s class. In addition to that, we are tweaking the move-back process for riders 17 and older to avoid some of the problems of Expert riders getting put in Intermediate classes of ages where an Expert class of that same age was available. While these problems were rare, they were certainly head-scratchers for all involved when they happened.

We’ve spent over a year working with a website development company to completely overhaul the website. Along with a fresh new look, the new site will fix many of the issues that visitors had and be much more mobile-friendly. We are very excited to finish development and launch Phase I of the new site, as this new platform should allow us to better customize the user experience for both riders, parents and our tracks. The programmers have also been working on developing an iOS and Android app in parallel with the site development. We will be heavily testing this new platform after Grands, in hopes of debuting the site early in 2023. 

Coupled with a digital facelift for the website we are re-creating the marketing material with a simple goal, attract new riders to the local track and retain them.  To achieve this, we have partnered with the Commit Agency, an extremely talented, successful marketing firm. With Commit, we have produced an aggressive strategic plan to create competitive positioning, target audience definition, and brand definition.

Nationwide marketing campaigns are being programmed for connected TV’s, social media, and other platforms that include direct competitive search driven ad-space.  

The entire platform of how a track is promoted and positioned with USA BMX lies within our brand essence developed for the campaign, and the marketing plan will follow the pillars of action-packed adventures, lifelong connections, and a destination for wholesome family fun. 

A new standard of Gold.  In 2023, the Gold Membership will have a substantial increase in price but will come with HUGE benefits to those actively participating in USA BMX programming, up to a $565 value!

The 2023 Gold Membership package will include the original benefits:

·  Official Gold Membership Card

·  First class subscription to PULL Magazine

·  One (1) free open class entry at any National event at the time or purchase or renewal

·  One (1) “free” open class entry at any National event after racing ten (10) nationals per calendar year (limit 1 per year)

·  One (1) “free” open class entry at any National event after racing 20 single point local races per calendar year (limit 1 per year)

Now includes:

·  Spot Insurance coverage for the year 

·  Unlimited timing at all USA BMX national events (transponder not included)

·  Free entry to National BMX Hall of Fame Museum

 For current Gold Members, we will continue to manage it with the benefits that were included at the time of purchase until the time of renewal. Should the rider want to renew early after January 1 at the new rate of $350.00, we will prorate the membership so that the rider can enjoy the benefits of the new Gold package. Simply email membership@usabmx.com after the beginning of the year and we will be happy to assist them with this. 

Membership pricing over the past 22 years has only seen 1 increase.  During this time, we have been able to hold membership pricing with only one increase in 2012. At that time we simply increased the cost of a membership to match inflation.  Eleven years later we once again must increase membership fees to match the soaring cost. Unfortunately, to keep pace with today’s inflation and the 2023 membership cost will change and go into effect on January 1st. 

To lessen the burden on families with multiple memberships, we have increased the family discounts to $10 versus the previous $5 discount. Additionally, we are very proud to announce that we will also introduce a discount for our Veterans. Veterans will now receive a $10 discount for new and renewing members. (To receive the discount, the membership must be purchased online.)